


Welcome to the Sixties

by convenientlysinging



Series: Welcome to the Sixties [1]
Category: The Outsiders (1983), The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Rumbles, Some light angst, Teen Romance, Teenaged Shenanigans, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 38,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22164088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/convenientlysinging/pseuds/convenientlysinging
Summary: When four girls find themselves trapped 50 years in the past, they learn to work together against all obstacles. "I'm totally fine. The blood on my face is just for decoration."
Relationships: Johnny Cade/Original Female Character(s), Ponyboy Curtis/Original Female Character(s), Sodapop Curtis/Original Female Character(s), Two-Bit Mathews/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Welcome to the Sixties [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595383
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. Movies and Wishes

**Author's Note:**

> I published this on ff.net over six years ago before taking it down. It was republished to the site about two years ago, and I figured I'd put it up here too. There has been only limited editing to the original story.

Jennifer POV

"Emma, could you go get The Outsiders off the shelf?" I leaned over to snag a couple chips from the bag beside her.

"Why are you making me move, woman?" Emma asked sassily.

"Because it's my birthday and I want to watch my favorite movie. Besides, you're the only one who can reach the top shelf." I explained. Emma got up, moving obnoxiously slow, probably on purpose. I would have asked Rachel who was already standing, but as the shortest out of all of us it would have just been cruel.

"Can I French braid your hair?" Angelina seated herself behind me and began running her fingers through my hair before I could respond. I felt her pulling slightly at a knot towards the ends of my hair around my waist.

"Ouch, careful." I laughed slightly. "When you're done with my hair, I want to try something with yours. I just saw a youtube tutorial for a really pretty waterfall braid."

"Geez Jennifer, first you insist on doing all our makeup and now you want to do our hair too?" Emma laughed as she put the DVD in its slot and the movie started.

"What can I say, my parents would never let me be an actual youtube beauty guru, so experimenting on you guys is the next best thing." I took my ponytail holder off my wrist and handed it to Angelina so she could secure my hair before we switched places and I began styling her shoulder length hair.

"I can see why everyone thinks you're twins," Rachel said off handedly, "you both have the same colored hair." I nodded slightly at her comment, examining the dark brown color of Angelina's hair. Also the fact we're always seen together. I handed Angelina a mirror to look at herself before stretching slightly and brushing a few stray hairs off my pink plaid pajama bottoms.

"I'm going to bring down some more snacks. Do you want anything in particular?" I asked while getting up off the floor and heading to the stairs.

"More veggie chips and iced tea." Emma requested while smoothing down her sweats. I nodded my head and got the food from the kitchen. When I came back downstairs, I missed the last few steps and fell, landing on my butt.

"Oh my gosh if only my phone was on!" Emma roared, falling over in her seat.

"Are you okay?" Angelina asked me, crying from laughing so hard.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Angelina's giggling had ceased but Emma and Rachel were still cracking up. Rachel burrowed under her Harry Potter sleeping bag to try to calm down. Everything about her was Harry Potter themed that night, from her pajamas, to her sleeping bag, to the DVD box set she gave me as a present.

I turned my attention to the television where Dally was harassing Cherry at the movies. We all laughed when he fell out of his chair, and we were rolling on the floor when Cherry threw the coke in his face.

"You know what I want to do?" Angelina sputtered through her tears of laughter.

"What?" I asked her, giggling.

"I really want to sucker punch someone. You know, when a weirdo asks for a kiss and instead you kiss your fist and punch them," she explained, still laughing. She fixed her turquoise pajamas as she finished laughing.

"Angelina! How unladylike!" I mock scolded.

By the end of the movie, we were half-asleep. I tuned off the television and dimmed the lights. As I was falling asleep, I couldn't help but wish I lived in the 60s.


	2. How did that happen?

Jennifer POV

The next morning I woke up and felt around for my glasses, but I could not find them. I leaned over to keep trying to find them however, I fell onto the floor. _What the heck? Oh, I must have been sleeping on the couch._ I sat up slightly and looked around, not quite registering where I was. I shook Angelina awake, desperate for some company.

"Jennifer?" She mumbled, sounding slightly confused.

"Yeah?" I said rubbing my eyes in an attempt to wake up more.

"Why are you surrounded by beer bottles?" _Beer bottles?_ The blur of Angelina crawled past me and picked up a brown glass bottle. I squinted my eyes and read part of the label _Best Beer in the South._

"Maybe my parents were having a party." I suggested, wondering why they had beer from the south.

"Why are there boxers in that corner?" What?! I snapped awake, noticing a huge blurred pile in the corner.

"Maybe Christopher is trying to freak us out." He is always trying to prank my friends and me when I have people over. "Have you seen my glasses?" I reached my arms out and began trying to feel for them, feeling like Velma from Scooby Doo.

"No. Wait, where did my phone go?" Angelina panicked slightly as she quickly frisked herself and rummaged through the area she was sleeping in.

"Didn't you have it last night?"

"Yeah, I texted my mom during the movie to tell her to pick me up around noon." She complained.

Angelina and I got up and carefully stepped over bottles, underwear, and _people? Oh, right, just Rachel and Emma._ I slipped on a piece of newspaper, and fell down with an alarming crash. I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole neighborhood had heard it.

"What's going on down there?" I heard a male voice boom. _What did I do wrong? Why is my dad yelling at me?_ I squeaked in terror, debating whether to hide behind the couch.

"Whoever you are, you have to the count of three to get out here and explain before I call the cops," The man boomed again, coming closer to the room. _That's definitely not my dad._

The man came in, looking nothing like my salt and pepper haired father. I was dead silent, frozen in fear, my heart racing from this unexpected intrusion.

"Who are you?" The man asked. His face was etched into a frown, and he was glaring at me.

"I'm Angelina." Angelina stuttered slightly, "And that's Jennifer, Rachel, and Emma."

"Would you like to explain how you got into my house?" I wasn't sure if he was calming down or getting angrier. Rachel and Emma finally woke up and trudged towards Ang.

"I'm not sure," I replied to no one in particular, trying to make sense of my unfamiliar surroundings. The man turned deep red, his frown growing.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU'RE NOT SURE'? YOU GOT IN HERE SOMEHOW!" I shrunk back and stood still, feeling like a deer in the headlights.

"She means exactly what she said." Angelina said, her eyes wide. I couldn't tell if she was getting mad or scared. _Probably both._

I heard another set of foot steps clamoring down the stairs.

"Darry? What's going on?" Even without my glasses I could tell that whoever walked downstairs was handsome. Then I began thinking. _Darry? The only person I've ever known to have that name was in The Outsiders._

"I found these girls in our living room," Darry replied, trying not to lash out. The boy that came down the stairs looked from each of us. _I just hope he's not as choleric as Darry._

"Relax Dare. I let them in. They were walking around alone last night and I thought it would be better in they stayed over here for a while," The other boy said while scratching his elbow, obviously lying for our benefit. Darry raised his eyebrows at us, but seemed to buy it. Angelina nudged me, confused. I remained as stiff as a board, still panicked by the confrontation. _Just play along._

"I guess that was the right thing to do, but please tell me next time, Soda," Darry replied, calming down. Sodapop smiled and turned back to the stairs.

"Uh… What's the date?" I asked, trying not to seem strange.

"July 19, 1965," Sodapop replied looking back at us. "And if you want to wash up, just head down the hallway."

"Thanks!" I said as the girls were pulling me away to the bathroom. I felt their fear and tension in addition to my own. When we all squeezed into the small room, Angelina closed the door and locked it.

"Jennifer, it's 1965. What are we going to do? How are we going to get back from our time?" She asked me, panicking.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to ride it out." I told her. I attempted to smile, but my lips refused to follow the ploy. Her face dropped as I said that. Rachel rolled he eyes and sighed and Emma face palmed. I unlocked the door and looked at my friends.

We walked out of bathroom and sat down at the table, silently plotting on how to fix things.

I was so busy wondering what on earth happened that I didn't even notice the plate of food in front of me.

"Woah! Looks like the Curtis's were busy last night," I heard a strange voice exclaim. I looked up and saw a man with rusty sideburns walking towards the table we were sitting at. _Two-Bit!_

Angelina elbowed me yet again. I could tell she was getting uncomfortable now that more people of the male species were showing up. I, on the other hand, was cool and collected. I had the most experience with boys than the other three combined, so I had a better idea what to expect. I also memorized _The Outsiders_ so I had an idea what the characters were going to be like.

Two-Bit turned to me. "Are you going to eat that?" I looked down at my plate of eggs and cake and passed it to him. I wasn't really that hungry.

"So what brings you here to this _lovely_ household?" Two-Bit asked us.

"It's a long story," Angelina told him. I hoped he wouldn't ask anything more.

"I'm sure it isn't that long," Two-Bit said, still trying to press for the story, "So which of them did you girls bang?" I blushed and Angelina covered her face.

"All of them," Emma joked.

"I see," Two-Bit replied, continuing the joke, "And you guys didn't think to call good ol' Two-Bit over for a little fun?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Angelina was at the point where I'm sure she would crawl under the table.

"Sorry, buddy. I don't do gingers," Emma told him, laughing.

"Oh darn. Too bad I don't do brunettes or else we would've had a ball." Two-Bit said while staring at Emma.

"Oh darn," Emma said while giggling. It was a shock to see normally reserved Emma flirting. Rachel was eying Emma as if she were a foreign object.

"I think it's time we left, guys. I don't want to over stay our welcome," I finally spoke up.

"Jennifer! We're still in our pajamas," Angelina complained.

"We're not going to find clothes here," I replied as I began making my way towards the door.

"What about your glasses?" Angelina asked me. I stopped short.

"Ummmmm…"

"I'm not dealing with a blind Jennifer again. Remember the last time you didn't wear your glasses?"

"Fine. What am I supposed to do? They could be anywhere," I said beginning to feel annoyed.

"They could be anywhere, or they could be right here on the windowsill. Are these yours?" Sodapop asked me while handing me my glasses. I didn't even notice him entering the room.

"Yeah. Thanks!" I exclaimed while putting them on. It was great to be able to see again.

We left the Curtis house after Sodapop dug up some of his mother's old clothes for us to borrow.

"What are we going to do now?" Angelina asked me.

"We're going to get jobs and find a place to live. I have a feeling we may be here longer than we think," I replied while walking into town.


	3. Dairy Queen

Angelina POV

_I can't believe this! Jennifer isn't even trying to figure out how to get us out of here. It looks as if we're going to stay here long term, she's even making us save up to buy a house. All I want to do is go back home and be with my family and friends, but as usual Jennifer is too laid back to do anything about a bad situation. I love her dearly, believe me I do. She's like a sister to me, but she just drives me up a wall when she pulls stunts like this._

"Earth to Angelina," Jennifer was trying to get my attention.

"What?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"What kind of a job do you want?" Jennifer asked me.

"I don't know. I've always wanted to work in an ice cream place," I replied.

"Dairy Queen's hiring. Why don't you apply?" Jennifer asked me as we passed by.

"Okay. If I have to," I walked to the counter and asked for an application. The girl there handed it to me without a question. I filled it out, hoping for our sake that I would get the job. When I handed it back, the manager popped out and asked me into his office.

"You're the only one to apply since we put up that sign weeks ago. Would it be okay if we just gave you the job now?"

"Sure," I replied, surprised that he would give me the job so quickly.

"Are you still in school?" He asked me. I shook my head. Emma I had already graduated from high school.

"Good. Then what would you think of working the midnight shift Monday through Thursday for $1.15 an hour?" _Ewww_ I knew that I was probably only earning minimum wage, and I didn't like the idea of working 9 pm to 5 am, but I guess I didn't have a choice.

"That's fine," I told him dryly.

I left the restaurant and walked back to the girls.

"I got a job," I said, not at all excited.

"That's great!" Jennifer exclaimed, then she took a better look at me, "What's wrong?"

"I'm working the midnight shift for minimum wage," I replied acidly.

"You have to start somewhere," Jennifer responded simply. I had a feeling she didn't really care about my feelings about that job.

"Yeah, I guess." _Jennifer, what are you thinking?_

As we continued walking, I couldn't help but hope that things would be better for everyone else.


	4. The library

Rachel POV

I can do this. I've read enough books to figure out how to fit in almost anywhere. I have to admit, it's helpful to have Jennifer around to nudge us in the right direction. I wonder what was going on with Emma and that guy earlier…

"Rachel, they have a job opening for teens at the library. Why don't you go in and apply?" Jennifer asked me.

"Okay," I replied, climbing the stairs to my haven. I love the library because of all the books. There was never enough time in a day to read all the ones I wanted to.

As I walked to the information desk, I spotted a young boy. He must've been in his early teens, something about him looked familiar. He was sitting behind the desk reading a book.

"Hi. I would like to apply for a job," I told him.

"Unfortunately, we are only hiring licensed librarians, but we are taking teenaged volunteers." He told me while handing me a single sheet of paper. I guess it was a bit too much to think I was going to get an actual job at such a young age, but this will be added experience for a resume. Wait, why am I thinking about resumes?

"Thanks," I said while taking the paper and a pen. I decided to attempt some small talk with the boy. He seemed nice.

"Do you work here?" I asked him.

"No. I just volunteer. I love being surrounded by books," he told me.

"Me too! I-I mean, I like books too," I stuttered feeling stupid.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"Rachel… Rachel Raye," I replied.

"Okay Rachel. Would you mind working from 2 to 4 Mondays through Fridays?"

"That sounds great…" I trailed off, not knowing his name.

"Ponyboy," He prompted.

"Yeah. Thanks Ponyboy," I said while walking away.

"Wait Rachel!" Ponyboy called. I turned back to see him motioning for me to come over.

"What is it Ponyboy?" I was concerned and curious.

"Weren't you one of the girls who woke up in my house this morning?" He asked me. I froze, not sure what to say, was he going to believe Sodapop's lie, or was he going to yell at me like Darry did?

"Yeah. Sorry if we woke you guys up,"

"It's fine. Why don't you stop by our place for dinner tonight? I heard one of your friends and Two-Bit had a ball this morning," I wasn't sure what to say, but based on Jennifer's outlook on what we're going to do, and how little money we're making, I had a feeling this may be the last good meal we were going to have for a while.

"Sure. That sounds great," I replied, hoping Darry wouldn't be mad at us for walking into his home again. This time I walked out of the library and down the stairs without being interrupted.

"Hey! How'd it go?" Jennifer asked me.

"I don't have a job per se, but I'm getting volunteer hours." I told her, Angelina's shoulders deflated. She wasn't happy that I wasn't going to be bringing in money. Jennifer's smile faltered slightly, but she didn't seem as disappointed. I quickly changed the subject. "I also got us dinner plans for tonight." The other girls stared at me as if I turned into a giant mosquito.

"Ponyboy invited us back to his house for dinner tonight," I explained quickly.

"Really? I don't believe this," Jennifer said while pacing.

"What's wrong?" Angelina asked her, obviously in a better mood than earlier.

"Nothing's wrong, but I sure as hell don't want to face Darry again after what happened this morning," Jennifer replied.

"Well, I kinda already accepted the offer. I assumed it would be the last good meal we'll have in a while," I explained sheepishly.

"Well, I'm going with Rachel," Emma said, backing me up.

"I'll go, I guess," Angelina said. We all stared at Jennifer. If she wasn't going to go, we all weren't going to go.

"I guess I'll go. Maybe we can ask about a place to stay until we have an apartment," Jennifer finally decided. Only she would think about house hunting while eating dinner with almost strangers.


	5. Thrift shop

**Emma POV**

_Oh Jennifer, you seem to think everything is so easy. It's one thing to be optimistic, but it's another to be deluded._

"Emma, they have a help wanted sign at this clothing store. You should apply," Jennifer told me.

"Jennifer, are you sure you don't want this job?" I asked, hoping to get out of it.

"I'm not really good at sales," She replied simply.

"If you say so," I told her as I was walking into the store. I took a quick look around and realized I was in some thrift store. One of the dresses I saw was priced at 45 cents.

"I would like to apply for a job," I told the lady at the counter. She was an older woman, probably in her 60s, with white hair tied up in a ponytail and a pair of glasses hanging around her neck from a chain. She smiled at me and ushered me into the back room.

"I just can't run this store by myself anymore now that my daughters are all grown up and married with children of their own. I had this sign posted for months, but no one ever asked about the job. No teenager ever wants to be seen here it seems," she finished sadly.

"I really need the job," I replied lamely.

"I'll bet you do. Do you still go to school?" She asked me.

"No."

"I think I'll have you working here from two to ten Monday through Saturday. I still need someone for mornings though."

"That's great! I actually know someone who may be able to do mornings. May I bring her in?"

"Sure, right after we discuss your pay. I was thinking of paying you $3 an hour." My eyes widened. _$3 an hour? That's more than Angelina's making._

"That sounds awesome! Thanks a million!"

"No problem dearie. Make sure to bring your friend in soon."

"She's right outside. I can bring her in now if you'd like."

"That sounds delightful."

I raced out of the store to talk to my friends.

"I got the job!" I exclaimed, "And I found a job for you too, Jennifer!"

"You did?" Jennifer asked bewildered.

"Yeah. Come inside with me," I said while pulling on Jennifer's arm. She followed me and I brought her to the woman at the counter.

"This is my friend, Jennifer," I introduced her to the woman at the counter, hoping that Jennifer could get the job.

"Nice to meet you," said the woman, "my name's Ethel. Your friend here said you were a good worker and you needed a job. How would you like working here Mondays through Saturdays from six in the morning till two for $3 an hour?" Jennifer was speechless, and I could tell a million thoughts were running through her mind at once. I only hoped she would be okay with this job, just a couple minutes ago she didn't want to work here.

"I think that sounds great!" Jennifer finally replied. I exhaled a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"I'll see you girls tomorrow then," Ethel called as we were leaving.

I didn't even notice where we were walking next, as my mind immediately drifted back to that boy. I whistled happily, half-listening to my friends planning our new life. _Maybe I could get used to living in the sixties. Everybody seemed so nice._


	6. The first encounter

Jennifer POV

"What kind of house do you want to get, Jennifer?"

Rachel was in an awfully good mood ever since she walked out of that library. Her job couldn't be _that_ awesome.

I was pleased that three of us had a job, but I was still concerned about our money situation. I had no idea how much an apartment would cost, and I could only hope no one would need to take another job to cover our expenses. If we had to, though, I'm sure I could take it on. I was only working mornings so I could take on an evening shift as a waitress somewhere.

"I'm not sure," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. I didn't realize how hard living on my own could be. Even with three other people pitching in money, I doubt we'd have the life I'd always dreamed of.

"I want a big kitchen so we can have people over and cook," Emma finally spoke up while looking at a display of cooking utensils in a nearby store's window. She had been distant from us all morning, never quite in out conversations.

"People like Two-Bit?" I couldn't help but tease.

"That was his name?" Emma replied, half snorting. I turned to Angelina.

"What do you want in our apartment?"

"I want a huge living room for movie nights," She told me excitedly. She was almost skipping down the sidewalk, which was an extreme change in her mood since after she got her job.

We continued walking to the Curtis' house, talking about our future and teasing each other. I didn't even notice the boys across the street from us.

"Hey!" One of them shouted while waving both arms. I registered that he had a blue checkered shirt on.

"Just keep walking," I told the girls, hoping the boys would leave us alone.

"Hey!" He tried again.

We walked with our heads held high and our backs straight, but I knew we were all frightened. Angelina's face was pale and her eyes were wide, ruining the front we were trying to put on. I unconsciously began chewing on my fingernail, a nervous habit of mine. I looked over at Rachel and she had a look of deep concentration on her face. I wondered if she was trying to remember some of her kickboxing lessons. I could see the Curtis' house at the end of the block.

The boys strolled across the street and walked directly behind us. Angelina stiffened as one boy with many rings tried to get her attention by poking her back and whispering in her ear.

"We don't bite," another boy with dark hair said. He tried putting his arm around me.

"Please get off of me," I said while shrugging away from his arm.

I walked a little faster, cueing for the girls to do the same. My only hope was that we could lose them. No such luck.

"What are beautiful girls like you doing in such a trashy neighborhood?" The boy with the checkered shirt tried to grab Emma's hand. Emma stuck her hand in her pocket and shifted closer to us.

"What's your name sweet cheeks?" The boy with dark hair asked me. I ignored him and kept walking.

"I _said_ what's your name?" I picked up my pace even more, ready to make a break for it if I had to.

"Are you going to answer me?"

"No," I finally told him coldly. He suddenly grabbed me by my ponytail and yanked me backwards. Rachel tried to grab my arm in a futile attempt to wrench me free. He forced me to face him, holding me by my shoulders. I was vaguely aware of Angelina screaming at him to let me go.

"When we ask you a question, you answer," He told me.

The boy was tracing his hands down my waist to the top of my skirt. He smelled spicy, almost like cinnamon, and I could feel the sweat on his hands. My skin prickled with fear, and my mouth was dry. I stomped on his foot desperately, hoping he would release me. He only held me tighter.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rachel and Emma attempting to fight off some of the other boys. Angelina took this as a distraction to run to the Curtis' house.

"We're only nice to good little girls who do what they're told," The boy sneered while running his hands up my waist to my chest. I beat his chest, hoping yet again that he would let me go. I might as well have tickled him with a feather. He didn't let me go, or even acknowledge that I tried to hurt him. He was too busy cupping my breasts though my shirt. I tried backing away, but he grabbed my upper arms, leaving me defenseless.

I turned my head and saw Angelina leading the Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, and a boy I assumed was Steve over to where the other girls and I were struggling. The assaulters didn't seem to notice. I saw the greasers disperse and begin fighting off our captors.

"I'd let go of her if I were you," Sodapop elbowed the boy in the back.

Our attackers could finally tell that their plan of harassing us wasn't going to go as smoothly as they originally thought. Some of them began backing away.

"Let's get out of here, John," the boy with the rings told my attacker.

"This isn't over yet," John said as he shoved me to the ground. Then, he and his friends ran away.

"Are you okay?" Sodapop asked me while helping me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied shakily. I massaged my lower back, trying to remove the feeling of that guy's hands on me.

"You girls really shouldn't be walking around by yourselves," Darry scolded us as we walked back to his house. His face was one of concern with lowered and a slight frown. I hung my head, ashamed that I hadn't been more careful. I could've gotten us killed. What if we hadn't been so close to the Curtis'? What would have become of us? Would John have gotten farther with his harassing?

When we reached the fence, Angelina pulled me aside. I was sure I looked like I was going to cry.

"Jennifer, I know that look," She started firmly. I tried to turn away, but she pulled me to face her. "Listen to me. It wasn't your fault. I could've happened to anyone. We just all have to be more careful. It's okay." She hugged me and patted my back. I allowed her to lead me into the Curtis house. We rejoined Emma and Rachel, who were sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall. I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared out into the distance.

_Things could always be worse._


	7. Dinner with the gang

Jennifer POV

"Dinner's ready!"

We entered the kitchen where Darry was struggling to carry three plates of chicken to the table. Ponyboy up from came behind Darry carrying a large bowl of mashed potatoes.

After he set the bowl down on the small table, Ponyboy ran his fingers through his copper hair. His eyes moved around the table, mentally calculating how to fit all of us around it.

"Maybe we should eat in the living room."

We all filled our plates and returned to the living room. Angelina and I sat with our backs to the couch, and Rachel and Emma sat in front of the sliding glass doors. Darry sat in his overstuffed armchair. He balanced his plate on one knee and placed his cup on the end table. Steve and Sodapop sat together on the floor by the door to the kitchen. Ponyboy sat next to Rachel and Two-Bit sat next to Emma. Rachel shyly glanced at Ponyboy and brushed her hair out of her face.

"I've seen horses eat less food than you!" Two-Bit laughed. Emma playfully punched Two-Bit in the arm before returning to eating.

"Hey now, let's not get too rough," Two-Bit swatted at Emma's hand.

"Do you want that piece of chicken, Jennifer?" I shook my head and Rachel picked the drumstick off my plate.

"Jennifer, you have to eat _something_ ," Angelina dangled my fork in front of my face. I grabbed the fork and absently took a bite of potatoes, not even tasting them.

"So, where are you girls from?" Sodapop was studying our faces with his captivating dark brown eyes.

I bit my lip, thinking about the best answer. Do I say that we're not from around here? Where should I say we live? I definitely can't say we're from the future; that would make us seem mental. After a minute of deliberating I decided to wing it.

"We just moved down from Chicago." I congratulated myself on my lack of stuttering, something that usually happens when I lie.

"And you don't have a place to live." It wasn't a question. Darry took a hard look at us, narrowing his eyes. "Where on earth are your parents?"

Angelina glanced toward me. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was a tight line.

I shrank back against the couch, willing myself to think of something new quickly. My face was heating up, and I was sure I was blushing. I desperately looked around the room for inspiration. We couldn't afford to lose the greasers' trust.

I heard the screen door slam, and was immediately grateful for a couple more seconds to think up our cover story.

Two more greasers walked into the room. I knew instantly that the one with dark hair and a scar was Johnny, which meant that the greaser with the elvish face and white blond hair was Dally.

"What's with the chicks, Darry?" Dally grabbed a plate of food and leaned against the wall. He attempted to brush his long hair out of his eyes.

Angelina's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink when she saw Johnny. I giggled, unable to keep my composure.

Angelina's eyes swept up and down Johnny's form, narrowing slightly at his scar. After several seconds she smiled softly. I couldn't help but smile as well. I hadn't seen her smile at anyone since we found ourselves in the Curtis' living room that morning.

"We're still figuring that out," Darry rubbed his face.

I glanced back at Johnny, realizing I had found my inspiration. I only hoped I could pull this one off.

"If you want to know the truth, I guess I could tell you guys." I sighed, praying I could get away with this one. "We didn't exactly move out of Chicago. We ran away."

Angelina stared at me, her mouth hanging open. Rachel paused with her chicken drumstick halfway into her mouth. Darry still looked skeptical, but he was listening at least.

"You see, Angelina and I are sisters and our parents are alcoholics. We were sick of the abuse, so we planned to run away." I paused to enhance the drama. "Rachel's from a very devout Catholic family, but she doesn't agree with any of their beliefs. Emma's a foster child, and she was sick of the system. Since she's so old, not many people wanted to house her. We all decided to make a pact to run away together and find a new life. We had been hitchhiking for a week until now." I attempted to look like things were no big deal, but my heart was pounding inside my chest.

I turned to Angelina, hoping she'd elaborate on my story, but she was staring at Johnny with glazed over eyes. I elbowed her, causing her to jump.

"Did I miss anything, Ang?"

"No. I think that was everything." I only hoped she actually heard what I said.

I looked to the greasers hoping I was more believable this time.

"You're a foster child?" Two-Bit softly asked wrapping his arm around Emma's shoulder. Emma took the cue from me and looked at him with huge puppy dog eyes and even nuzzled into his shoulder.

Nice touch Emma.

"Abuse huh?" There was no emotion in Dally's voice. I noticed his eyes shift from us to Johnny. I snuck a look at Johnny to see if he thought my story was real. If he found a hole in my story and didn't believe us, then we could kiss the greasers' help good-bye. Johnny's eyes grew even larger. I followed his gaze to Angelina. Her eyes were wide and a bit watery. She was either freaking out that Johnny noticed her or putting on a convincing "abused teen" act.

"I'm sorry." Ponyboy murmured into Rachel's ear.

I couldn't help but feel awkward with all the flirting going on around me. In order to try to ignore it, I looked up at the clock on the wall. I was surprised to see how late it was getting.

"It's eleven o'clock, we should probably go," I stood up and prompted the girls to do the same.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and stayed rooted in her spot next to Ponyboy. "Go where, Jennifer? We don't have a home, and I sure don't want to spend my night on the streets."

"I'll think of something," I was trying to make my way towards the door, disregarding the fact that the girls weren't following me.

"Now wait a minute," Darry grabbed my arm as I tried walking past his chair. I looked at him, surprised. "It isn't a good idea for you girls to spend the night wandering alone in this neighborhood." He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. "You're staying here."

I considered the idea. I didn't want to overstay my welcome, but I also wasn't itching to get jumped for the second time in one day. Then there was the fact that we were staying in a house full of hormone-driven teenaged boys. As much as I loved the greasers on paper, could I really trust them to leave us alone? Which would be safer, staying in a house with almost perfect strangers, or wandering in the streets after dark? After I thought about it that way, the choice was obvious.

"Okay. We'll stay, but only under a couple conditions. First we must stay in a room with a door we can lock."

"You can stay in my old room." This was the second time today that Sodapop did us a huge favor. First he covered for us and saved us from Darry's wrath. Now, he's offering up his room. He may just be my personal angel. I smiled at him gratefully.

"The second condition is that you let us pay you back when we get on our feet."

"That's fair enough." Darry let go of my arm and I returned to my spot on the floor next to Angelina.

"Thanks." I finally said.

After everyone finished eating, the boys reached for the packs of cigarettes on the coffee table. Angelina raised her eyebrows at me, but I merely shrugged.

"Where are our manners?" Two-Bit reached into his pack and came up with four cigarettes. He tried handing them to us, but we declined nervously.

"We don't smoke," Angelina informed everyone awkwardly, waving her hands in front of her.

The younger greasers looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but Darry smiled appreciatively.

Ponyboy tried to break the awkward silence that permeated the room. "Tell us more about yourselves."

I coughed a little bit.

"What's there to tell?"

"Your names would make a good start," Steve was staring at us, making me a bit uncomfortable.

"I'm Jennifer. That's Angelina. Rachel and Emma are over there." As I introduced each girl, she smiled and waved.

"What made you guys pick this town?" Ponyboy was studying our faces and I was beginning to feel like an animal in the zoo.

"As Jennifer said earlier, we hitchhiked our way down so we just had to go where the people driving us were going," I was relieved that Angelina didn't mess up our story.

"What about you guys? Who are you?" Rachel gestured towards the gang. I was glad for Rachel's question. It would seem odd if I slipped and blurted out the gang's life stories when I'd only just met them.

"I'm Darry, and those two knuckleheads," Darry pointed at his brothers, "are my brothers Ponyboy and Sodapop." It seemed like he was loosening up. I only hoped that we could keep the trust we had earned.

"Two-Bit Mathews, at your service." Two-Bit bowed from his seated position and ended up somersaulting into the middle of the room, something hard to do on accident. Everybody froze for a brief second, but then we all howled with laughter.

"I'm Steve." He gave us a small half-smile, but quickly returned to his natural frown.

"I'm Dally and that's Johnny." Dally didn't even look at us when he introduced himself. Johnny, however, was gaping at us, Angelina in particular, and blushed when I looked over at him.

"Nice to meet you guys." I said while simultaneously letting out a huge yawn. Emma was already nodding off with her head on Rachel's shoulder. Angelina's eyes were half closed.

"Maybe we should let you girls get some sleep." Sodapop got up and led us to his room. "We have extra pillows and blankets in the closet and the bathroom is right next door. If you need anything else don't be afraid to ask."

We thanked him and quickly located our blankets.

"Wow! We sure are lucky!" Angelina exclaimed.

"Yeah. We all got jobs, we didn't get killed by those socs, and now we even have decent sleeping arrangements for the night. I'm not sure if we could be luckier." Rachel repositioned herself on the floor and yawned.

As I laid on the carpet floor next to Angelina, I couldn't help but wonder how much longer our luck would stay with us.


	8. Mental breakdowns

Rachel POV

I woke up to the sound of Angelina's startled yelp.

"What's going on?" I sat up and turned my body to face her.

"Jennifer's gone."

"She has to work. Remember? She's probably been at the shop for a little while now. There's nothing to worry about. She can hold her own in this world. She knows everything there is to know about The Outsiders."

"But she literally got attacked yesterday" Angelina began to pace and fiddled with her hands.

"She's not alone. Remember? That Ethel lady can protect her."

"But I can't help but feel like I have to protect her. She can be so naïve sometimes."

"SHUT UP! LITERALLY NOBODY LIKES YOU, SO JUST LEAVE!" Emma screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What did you just say to me?" Angelina looked hurt with misty eyes and a frown.

"You are so irritating, Navi. Just go die in a hole." We both turned to Emma and found her flailing her arms in her sleep. We heard a couple people walking upstairs and a knock on our door. Angelina cautiously unlocked and opened the door.

"What's up with the screaming?" Two-Bit entered the room and stared at us, taking in the fact that we were still in our pajamas and that Emma was snoring on the floor talking about Legend of Zelda.

"We were just trying to wake Emma up, but she's dead to the world." Angelina replied, glaring slightly at Two-Bit and Dally.

"Let me try." Two-Bit crouched down and poked at Emma a few times. She snored loudly and rolled over.

"No Navi, stop it." She flailed her arm in Two-Bit's general direction. Dally strides across the room and shook Emma violently.

"Stop it you ass!" She punched Dally square in the jaw, still asleep.

"You little..." Dally's eyes were blazing and his jaw was tightening. Johnny laid his hand on Dally's shoulder.

"Let's leave them alone. How about we go and find Ponyboy and watch a movie?" Dally stood up and left, not glancing back at us. Angelina relaxed as soon as Dally went out of sight.

"I think I know how to wake her up." I said quietly. "EMMA WAKE UP OR ELSE WE WON'T LET YOU EAT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!"

"I'm awake. I'm awake. Where's the food?" She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up quickly, nearly crashing her head into Two-Bit's chin. "Sorry." She inched away from Two-Bit slightly.

"You're going to want to say that to Dally, you punched him in the jaw. Nobody ever dares to punch ol' Dal unless they want to commit suicide."

"Is he mad at me?" "He is right now, just give him some time to cool off. I think Jennifer left you guys some breakfast and a note. How about y'all get dressed and come downstairs." Two-Bit left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Get dressed with what? The only thing we have are the clothes on our backs." Angelina was getting annoyed.

"Hmmmm... I don't know... Maybe with the clothes laying on the bed?" Emma was still a bit grumpy that we woke her up. We quickly changed, frowning that we were forced to wear dresses and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Angelina took the tin foil off of a covered plate, and revealed scrambled eggs and sausage. We scarfed down the food, even though we had eaten a lot the night before. Angelina spotted a folded piece of paper under the plate, unfolded it, and read it out loud to us.

"I'm at work right now, but I'll be home soon, depending on when you are reading this. You guys need to do me a favor and start shopping for a place for us to live, because we shouldn't be living off of the Curtis's hospitality. They have enough money problems without us. Darry says that the real estate agency is downtown on the corner of Picket and Main Street.

-Jennifer"

Angelina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Doesn't she understand? We don't want to live here. We want to go home."

"It may take a while before we can go home, Angelina. I think Jennifer's right, we need a place to live until we can figure out to get back to our time." I rubbed Angelina's shoulder. She rolled her shoulders and started walking towards the door. We followed her outside and walked towards town.

"I really wish we had the money for a car." Emma sighed after we walked seven blocks. Angelina ignored her and kept walking. I could see the hurt in Emma's eyes.

As we continued walking, I felt like we were being followed, but every time I looked back, I didn't see anything. "Guys, does anything feel weird to you?"

"No. Why?" Emma glanced at me, taking in my slightly nervous face.

"I don't know. I just feel like something is off."

"Something is off? SOMETHING IS OFF?! WE ARE IN THE WRONG DAMN TIME ERA. WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO ACT AND THE ONE PERSON WHO DOES IS BLOWING US OFF AND NOT EVEN TRYING TO GO BACK TO THE RIGHT TIME." Angelina exploded, causing people to stare at us.

"Jennifer is doing what she thinks is best. And didn't you say before that you would have liked to experience the sixties first hand?" I spoke quietly, trying not to make Angelina even more mad.

"JENNIFER IS NOT DOING WHAT IS BEST. SHE IS TREATING THIS LIKE SOME GAME. DOES IT LOOK LIKE SHE IS TRYING TO FIND A WAY FOR US TO GO HOME? NO. SHE ISN'T. SHE'S MAKING US LOOK FOR A DAMN HOUSE. I AM NOT GOING TO LIVE HERE. I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE HERE. I just want to go home." Angelina's voice cracked a little bit, and her eyes turned glossy.

"We will go home Angelina, but we need to fit in until we figure out how. I'm sure Jennifer is brainstorming ideas on how to get home right this minute." I gave her a little half hug, and noticed a man out of the corner of my eye. Before I could get a good look at him, he ducked into an alley.

"Let's keep going. I don't like the vibes here." We continued walking until we reached Main Street. We turned left, and quickly approached the small real estate office building. Actually, it was more of a house than an office building. It had yellow siding with crisp white trim, and the roof was a reddish brown color. There was a large white sign in front that read "Tulsa Real Estate".

"How should we go inside?" Emma mused.

"Ummmm... Through the door?" Angelina responded, rolling her eyes.

"Noooo... How about we just dive through the window?" Emma said sarcastically.

We all walked up the porch, pausing at the front door. Angelina opened it tentatively, as if something would pop out at us if we weren't careful. We all tried to go through at the same time and ended up getting stuck in the doorway. Angelina wriggled herself free, and we all went tumbling through the door into the middle of the floor.

"Can I help you?" A pair of feet wearing high heels asked. We looked up and saw a middle aged woman with thick, curly, brown hair. Angelina was the first to get off the floor and dust herself off.

"Yes. We are in the market to buy a new house." The woman looked at us suspiciously as Emma and I peeled ourselves off the floor and stood next to Angelina.

"All right then. My name is Rose, and I'm a real estate agent. Would you like to come into my office so we can discuss what you would like to see in your house?" We followed Rose into her office and sat down in the uncomfortable fabric chairs on the other side of her large wooden desk.

"So what do you want in a house?" She asked, while pulling out a notebook.


	9. Help!

Jennifer POV

It had been a quiet morning, only a few people came into the store, and only one person actually bought something. I had plenty of time to think about how to get home, but I couldn't come up with a single idea.

"Bye Ethel! See you tomorrow!" I grinned and waved while walking out the door. I turned right and walked quickly down the sidewalk. I was almost hoping that I would run into Emma so we could hang out and get lunch or something, but I was alone. Or at least, I thought I was.

Three of the guys who attacked us the day before came out from the alley and cornered me. My mind seemed to shut off, I couldn't process anything at all. One minute I was standing up right, the next, I was lying on the ground with a sharp pain in my head and a dull aching in my chest. I didn't remember falling at all. John was sitting on my stomach and pinning my arms to the ground.

"Now that your little friends are gone, we can finish what we started." He said menacingly. My breathing became heavy and my heart raced. My mind froze.

"I didn't know you would be so willing to go with us." John chuckled.

I gasped for air. "HELP ME!" I screamed.

"Shut her up. For God's sake, shut her up." One of the other guys, the one in the checkered shirt, took a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it over my mouth and nose. I stopped moving and feeling and the world went black.


	10. Running

Emma POV

"This house is $20,000, so its a little bit above your price range, but it has everything that you are looking for. Two bedrooms, a decent sized kitchen and living room, and a large backyard. Why don't you go ahead and look through it yourself, and then we can talk about what you think." Rose sat down on the swing on the porch, so Angelina, Rachel, and I took that as out cue to go inside.

As soon as we entered the house, Angelina sighed and slid down the wall to the floor. "I wish Jennifer was here to help us out. Its hard to do this without her."

"I know, but she is doing her part and earning most of the money we are going to live off." Rachel grabbed both of Angelina's hands and pulled her to her feet.

"Guys, its hot in here, I'm going outside for a little while, go ahead and look through the house, I'm sure you know more about it than I do anyway." I walked out the back door and looked around. Rachel had gotten me a bit paranoid ever since she said she didn't like the vibes of a certain part of the town. I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes, I was still tired even though I slept well last night. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

I woke up in a car with Jennifer slumped against me, unconscious, and three boys in the car. Two in the front seat and one in the back.

"What the hell is going on? Who are you people?" They didn't say anything. One, I think his name is John, glared at me through the rear view mirror, but said nothing.

I gently shook Jennifer, hoping she would wake up, but I had no such luck. I gently slapped her across the face a few times, but she was still completely dead to the world.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" I screamed repropping Jennifer's limp body against mine.

"Chloroform does wonders on bad little girls who don't do as they're told." John said sinisterly. I glared at him, and punched him in the jaw.

"You bitch!" He screamed. He reached back and slapped me while recklessly turning a corner and speeding down a dirt road.

I unbuckled Jennifer and my seat belts and unlocked the door. I opened it, and flung the both of us out the car. I gripped Jennifer by her arms and dragged her into the woods. I hid her behind some bushes and leaned over her to make sure she was still breathing. I tried shaking her again, slightly rougher than before, hoping she would wake up. After a few seconds, I could tell she was regaining consciousNess.

"WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO?!" I heard one of the guys yelling in the woods and from the sounds of their running footsteps, there were more guys chasing after us than before.

"I'll explain later, we need to run." Jennifer tried to get up, but it knew she wouldn't be going too far since she was still pretty drugged up. Sighing, I bent over and she climbed on my back so I could carry her while I ran.


	11. The black stingrays

Angelina POV

I had been standing behind the counter at work for a couple hours, keeping my guard up and making sure I wasn't a target for gangs. The bell rang and I saw two men walking in. One wore a leather jacket and was lazily smoking a cigarette. The other was wearing a jean jacket and looked a bit jumpy. I stiffened and plastered a small smile on my face.

"Two fudge sundaes." The one in the leather jacket said gruffly. I nodded my head and quickly got to work making the sundaes, keeping one eye on the men, making sure they weren't going to try anything on me.

The smaller one in the jean jacket spoke up. "Weren't you one of the girls staying with the Curtis's last night?" It dawned on me that the men were greasers, Dally and Johnny to be exact.

"Yes. I'm Angelina."

"Oh. You're the one with the sister, right?" Johnny questioned. I nodded my head, thinking about Jennifer. I realized that I hadn't heard from her all day and she should have regrouped with us hours ago. I dropped my whipped cream canister with a loud clatter and tried to remember when Jennifer was supposed to be home. She said in the early afternoon.

"Hey, are you all right? You don't look so good." I snapped out of my thoughts and noticed Johnny and Dally staring at me.

"Actually, it's a good thing you're here." I picked up the whipped cream and stepped out from behind the counter. We sat down at a table, and the boys looked at me expectantly. I sighed and closed my eyes, not sure what to say. I opened my eyes again and looked at Johnny.

"Angelina, what's going on?" Johnny reached towards me and I shrink back slightly, trying to fight tears. I looked at Dally and knew he was getting impatient.

"This morning Jennifer went to work and told me, Rachel, and Emma to look for a house. When we got to the final house of the day, Emma decided to go outside for a while. Rachel and I looked for her in the backyard, but she wasn't there. All that was in the yard was her bracelet and this." I took the keychain from my pocket and set it in the middle of the table. It looked like an ordinary keychain, except for the obviously homemade keychain of three interlocking loops made of braided wire.

Dally studied the keychain intently, then looked at me. "See those three rings? That's a gang sign for a soc gang. They call themselves the 'Black Stingrays.' You never want to get mixed up with that lot. They're dangerous and out for blood."

My head felt like it was spinning and I swallowed hard.

"Angelina?"

"We have to find them." I said suddenly, my voice cracking.

"Them? I thought only Emma was missing." Dally looked at me quizzically.

"Jennifer never came back from work. She should've been back hours ago." It was getting harder and harder to keep from crying. I looked down at my hands, not sure what to do.

"Let's go back to the Curtis's and see what we can do." Johnny proposed. I nodded my head and got out of my chair. I looked at the time, and realized my shift was over ten minutes ago.

"Come on, I got Buck's T-Bird parked out back." I followed Dally and Johnny, still overwhelmed and lost in my thoughts. I opened the door and hopped in the back seat.

When we pulled up to the house, I saw Rachel and Ponyboy on the front porch. I jumped out of the car as soon as Dally put it in park and embraced Rachel.

"Have you heard from Jennifer?" I asked breathlessly.

"No. I thought she was going to be with you when she finished work." Rachel pulled out of our hug and looked at me worriedly.

"And I'm assuming you haven't heard anything from Emma either."

"Nope. I'm scared for them."

"Me too, but that keychain I found is a pretty good clue to where they may be."

Rachel and I went inside the house and sat at the kitchen table where the rest of the greasers were gathered.

"Jennifer and Emma are missing." I blurted out. The greasers just stared at me.

"Explain missing." Darry said slowly.

I told the gang what I told Johnny and Dally, my heart rate increasing with every word. By the end, I could feel hot tears streaming down my face and Rachel was rubbing my back.

"It's going to be okay, Angelina. We'll help you find them." Sodapop smiled at me. I nodded, hoping he was right.


	12. Locked in a basement

Emma POV

I lost track of how long I was running with Jennifer on my back, but I knew one thing for sure, I couldn't stop any time soon. Not unless I wanted us to be caught again. Jennifer was still quite out of it from the drugs, and I had no idea how long it would be until she was back to normal. I had no idea where I was. I decided to start thinking about setting up camp soon, and started looking for a safe area for us to stay in.

I found a small clearing and leaned Jennifer against a tree. She looked quite a bit better than when I initially flung her out of the car, she had some scratches and scrapes here and there, but nothing too bad. I knew I had a gash on my temple from when John hit me and other cuts and scrapes from jumping out of the car and running in the forest, but over all neither of us were in too bad of shape.

I took off the skirt the Curtis's leant me and ripped it down one seam. That would make a decent blanket, good thing I kept my pajamas shorts on under the skirt. I unbuttoned my top and ripped off a long strip of fabric so I could bandage my wound. I repeated the process with Jennifer's skirt, and took off her shirt, thankful that she too left her pajamas on underneath her clothes.

"Sorry Jennifer, I don't have food and I can't make a fire, but at least we will be safe from those idiot boys."

"It's fine." She yawned.

I sat next to Jennifer and bandaged some of her worst cuts. Shortly after we both laid down and fell asleep huddled together for warmth and safety.

* * *

Jennifer POV

I woke up to a twig snapping.

"Emma? What's that noise?" She snored in reply. I rolled over and closed my eyes, hoping that I could get back to sleep.

"My, my, my. Look what we have here boys. A couple of runaway girls." I stiffly sat up, and saw five or six boys surrounding us.

"Emma! Wake up!" I shook Emma and she nearly slapped me in the face. She opened her eyes and nearly screamed when she saw the boys.

"What do you guys think you're doing?" Emma yelled.

"Coming to collect some property." John replied. He roughly grabbed me by the arm. I tried to scramble away, but twisted my ankle in the process and was impaled in the knee by a twig. Emma saw and yanked it out. I looked at Emma's face and then my knee. Both were bloody. I broke out into a cold sweat, and my mouth went dry. Slowly, black dots were taking over my vision until I finally lost all control over my body.

When I next woke up, I was in a dark, damp basement in the middle of nowhere. My hands were duck taped behind my back and my ankles were taped together as well.

"Emma?"

"Right next to you, smart one."

"Here, let me get you out." I used my nail to try to cut the duck tape off her wrists. I whined slightly when it broke.

"There are worse things like a broken nail, Jennifer. Like, I don't know, being locked in a basement." I finished untaping her wrists, and she pulled the duck tape off of my wrists. I took a better look at Emma and realized she was really beat up. She had a black eye, a couple cuts on her face, and a huge gash from the corner of her mouth to her jaw bone. I was nearly sick after looking at her, and I was sure there were more injuries I didn't know of yet. Emma tried to sit up, but fell backwards.

"Ouch. I think I cracked a few ribs." I helped Emma sit up and I tried to bandage some of her cuts, but the cuts on her face were too nauseating for me to deal with.

"I your knee supposed to bend that way?" I look down at my knee and realize that it is indeed bending the wrong way with the knee cap shifted to the side. I winced in pain.

"I take that as a 'We're not going anywhere anytime soon.'" I nodded miserably. A door opened and a darkened figure stood on the top step to the basement.

"I hope you girls are comfortable, because you're going to be here for a long time." The door slammed shut and I heard a lock click.


	13. Key

Rachel POV

I sat on the Curtis's couch for a while, missing my friends and wondering where they were.

"Hey, Angelina?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I see the key again?" She handed me the keychain and I examined it. Feeling every ridge of the key, and tracing the interlocking circles. Suddenly, I had an idea.

"I'm going to go see Rose, she's the only real estate agent in town, right?"

"Yeah. Want me to come along?" Ponyboy looked up at me with his grayish green eyes. I nodded my head and headed toward the door.

After a silent walk, Ponyboy and I approach the real estate office. We enter and ask for Rose. She comes out quickly and ushers us into her office.

"We found this key in an empty lot and were wondering if you knew about where it belonged." I gave Rose the key and she examined it. She traced her finger over the uneven top of the key and felt its smooth texture between her fingers. She got up and pulled a couple files out of her filing cabinet and began setting the key on top of pictures of keys to the houses she sold.

"This key goes with a house I sold to a bunch of young men." She hands the key back to me.

"So, do you know where this house is?" I asked Rose.

"Yes, it's in the woods, and there's a hidden dirt path to get there. You have to walk though, it isn't big enough for cars."

I paused. Why was she telling us all this? Isn't that against the law?

"Thanks a lot." Ponyboy and I quickly left the office and sprinted back to his house.

"Guys! I think we know where they are!" Everyone's heads snapped in my direction.

"This key belongs to a house in the woods and Rose told us how to get there." Ponyboy explained.

Angelina took the key from Ponyboy and put it in her pocket. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Are you sure? As much I love Jennifer and Emma, I don't want them in whatever trouble they're in." Angelina stared at me, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Yeah, but we have the gang to back us up. They can handle whatever comes their way." I inwardly chuckled at Angelina's confidence, hoping she was right.

"We're going to be fine. A little fight never hurt anyone." Steve said. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, but I know what he meant.

We left the house and got into cars. Dally, Johnny, and Angelina got into Dally's car. Steve and Sodapop got into Steve's car. Two-Bit and Ponyboy got into Two-Bit's car. Darry and I got into his pickup truck.

"Okay, so this place is on the edge of town in the woods. It'll take 20 minutes to drive there, and probably another 15 to walk to the house." I explained to Darry. He gruffly nodded his head and started the car. I watched the scenery whiz past me, wishing it would go by even faster. All I wanted was to see my friends again.


	14. The fight for freedom

Rachel POV

As soon as Darry stopped the car, I was jumping out and getting ready to sprint down the trail to rescue my friends.

"Now just hang on a minute. We have to think about how we're going to go about doing this. The house is probably well guarded." Darry stares at me with his icy blue eyes.

"Okay. Take down any and all guys there, and find the girls." I said hurriedly.

"But HOW Rachel? We need strategy." Angelina said, equally as impatient to find our friends.

"Punch now, worry later." I said and began running down the path. Everyone else followed, and Darry was giving instructions on how to fight, but I wasn't even paying attention.

When we approached the house, it appeared as if no one was there. I quickly put the key in the keyhole and turned it. The key worked! We quietly entered the house and found a bunch of guys eating lunch in the kitchen. I locked eyes with one of the boys, and before I knew it, everyone was fighting. I quickly recalled everything I learned in kickboxing, and started fighting as well. I kicked one guy square in the stomach and he doubled over, so I kicked him again in the head. He curled on the floor in the fetal position. What a baby!

I could vaguely hear some feminine screams for help, but I wasn't sure because of all the noise we were making. One of the socs opened a door and ran downstairs. I could hear him yelling at someone. Everyone followed him, and the fighting continued in the basement. It was so dimly lit, no one could tell friend from foe.

As I was fighting, I caught Emma out of the corner of my eye throwing some punches. I couldn't find Jennifer though. I only hoped she wasn't dead from being trampled on. I dodged a punch and ran closer to Emma. I realized she was protecting a figure lying on the ground, most likely Jennifer. Suddenly one of the socs punched her in the ribs and pushed her to the ground, a good ten feet away from Jennifer. He then began kicking Jennifer in the head. I ran over to him and kicked him in the balls.

I look over to Darry and see him deliver one final punch in John's, the leader's, jaw. The socs run upstairs and Dally chases after them. Victory!

Angelina and I ran over and embraced each other.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a bruise on my back from being pushed into the wall." I looked down at my hands, and realize that I sliced open a knuckle.

"Here, I brought some band aids." Angelina handed me a band aid and watched me put it over my cut. Then we went to see our friends. Angelina was rushing over to Jennifer so I went to see Emma. I almost didn't notice Two-Bit following me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"My. Ribs." She said between gasps.

As I was bending down to check out Emma, I heard Angelina shriek "JENNIFER!"


	15. Injured

Angelina POV

I bent down to see how Jennifer was doing, but she wasn't responding. "JENNIFER!" She still did nothing. Someone flipped on the lights and I immediately saw that she was in pretty bad shape. Her knee was completely deformed, and she was quite a mess, and with good reason. I lightly tapped her face, hoping to wake her up.

She looked up at me and giggled. "There are three of you." I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Um, someone? Help? Please?" I wanted to scream, but my voice cracked from my fear. Sodapop was closest to me, so he came over.

"What's the ma- OH MY GOD!" Sodapop dropped to his knees next to Jennifer. She winces in pain from his yelling.

"Well, she definitely has a concussion and that knee doesn't look too good either." Sodapop reaches to try to pick up Jennifer.

"What do you think you're doing?" I push his arms away from my sister.

"I'm carrying her to the car so we can get her to the hospital." He raises his eyebrows and reaches to lift Jennifer up.

"I can do that myself. I've had to do it before."

"It's going to be a bit of a walk, and I think I can do it faster than you. Besides, you have your friends to worry about too."

"She's my sister. I'm not letting some random creep touch her." I was getting irritated and just wanted Sodapop to let me take care of my best friend.

"I'm not a random creep thank you very much. And the sooner we get her to the hospital, the sooner we can get her the help she needs." With that, he lifts Jennifer with ease and his friend, Steve I believe, immobilizes Jennifer's bad knee. I watch as they leave, knowing in the back of my mind that they wouldn't hurt Jennifer.

I went over to see Emma and it was obvious she was in a lot of pain. Two-Bit had taken off his shirt and was using it to control bleeding from a cut in Emma's mouth.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm totally fine. The blood on my face is just for decoration." She said through her teeth. She tried to smile, but it was obvious that it hurt her to do so.

"No need for the attitude." I lightly slap her arm.

"I'll take her to a doctor girls. Never fear, Two-Bit is here." I rolled my eyes, but said nothing. I learned the hard way never to argue with a greaser when a girl and a hospital is involved.

Johnny touched my shoulder and led me back to Dally's car so we could get to the hospital.


	16. Does she like me too?

Sodapop POV

I laid Jennifer down in the back set and buckled her in so she didn't move around too much. I nervously eyed the rear view mirror to check if she's hanging in there. She groaned as we drove over the hospital speed bump.

As Steve pulled up to the hospital, I unbuckled my seatbelt and lifted Jennifer out of the car. She turned her face towards my chest, trying to avoid the blinding white light as we entered the hospital.

"We need a doctor over here!" I yelled. I only got looks from other patients in the waiting room, and the receptionist glared at me. Jennifer groaned in pain, and I suddenly regretted yelling.

"May I help you sir?"I turned around, and a nurse was behind me, eying Jennifer.

"Yes. We found her in a vacant lot and she was beaten pretty badly." I bit my lip, hoping she bought my lie.

"Do you know her name?" She asked calmly.

"No but she mentioned a sister that I could contact." I said shakily. The nurse sent orders for a hospital bed to be ready for Jennifer.

"I got it from here young man." A male nurse said to me. He rolled a stretcher in front of me and instructed me on how to lay her in it. He rolled her down the hall. I followed him to a room where he prepped Jennifer for surgery.

"Sorry, only medical personnel in here." The man told me while putting on sterile gloves.

"Thanks for saving me and taking me here. You know, I..." I think she passed out as she entered the operation room.

"Like you?" I whispered hopefully as the doors close. I sighed. It was far too soon to have feelings for someone who only came into our lives a week ago. But here I am. I trudged back to the waiting room, where Steve was already settled. It would only be a matter of time before others showed up too.


	17. Stitches

Two-Bit POV

Rachel and I sat outside the room where they were stitching Emma up. She was getting stitches for a cut on her temple and a long one by her mouth. I was surprised she wasn't making a sound. But then again, even when we were walking to my car she was quiet and strong. Damn, that girl is something else. She didn't even let me carry her to the car even though she was in obvious pain. All she did was slap me until I let her down so she could walk for herself. It didn't last long though, she eventually had to lean on me when walking became too much for her, but she was still joking around with her friend Rachel.

"Mr. Matthews? Miss Nestor is ready to go home. We put her on some strong pain medication, so she's going to be quite sleepy." Rachel rushed in the room before me and closed the door. I heard the hospital bed creak, and saw the silhouette of Rachel holding up a shirt. I guess she was helping Emma change. When she opened the door a crack, I knew it was safe to enter.

"How are you feeling?" I watched as Emma slowly got off the bed and staggered over to me.

"Just dandy." She slurred. She leaned heavily against me as I wrapped my arm around her. We started walking out of the room and down the hall, but at the rate we were going, we wouldn't make it to the car until Christmas.

"Maybe you should just carry her." Rachel suggested quietly. I nodded and lifted Emma into my arms. She was too tired and sore to protest.

"Hey, Two-Bit? I'm going to go check up on Angelina and Jennifer. I hate to leave you and Emma alone, but she should spend most of her time sleeping." Rachel quickly waved good bye as she pressed the call button to an elevator. I continued walking down the hall and eventually out the sliding doors of the hospital.

I laid Emma in the back seat of my car.

"Can we watch cartoons when we get home?" She slurred, on the verge of falling asleep. My heart skipped a beat.

"Of course we can." I said gently, but she didn't hear me. She was already asleep, softly snoring.


	18. Stargazing

Angelina POV

I had been sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair of the waiting room for a good hour, worrying about Jennifer. The more I thought, the more upset I got until I couldn't sit down anymore. I began pacing back and forth. I could feel the Curtis brothers' eyes following me. I looked and saw that Sodapop was frequently switching between watching me and staring at the door to the room Jennifer was in. I sat down for a while and looked at my hands, but after a few minutes I had to get up again.

"Calm down, Angelina. Everything is going to be just fine." Darry's voice was unusually quiet, but still stern. However, his words did nothing to comfort me.

"How do you know that? This is my sister we're talking about here, and she hasn't had the best of luck as of late." My voice wavered, and I felt like I was going to cry.

I heard a door open, and quiet footsteps. I could feel a presence behind me, but I didn't turn around.

"Angelina?" I heard a soft timid voice call my name, and knew it was Johnny. I turned around slowly. He stared at me wide eyed, I was sure I looked like a hot mess.

"Come on, you look like you need a break." He held out his hand to me, and I cautiously took it. He led me out of the waiting room down to the gift shop.

"I can't afford anything here, but I'm sure Jennifer would be grateful if we got her something." He looked bashful after admitting he didn't have money, and I couldn't help but crack a small smile. I walked around the store until I settled on getting a small music box and a silver necklace with a treble clef on it. I set it on the counter and handed over the money to the cashier. She put it in a bag and handed the bag to me.

"Let's go get some air." Johnny offers, I look out the window at the light pink sunset and fiddle with the handle of the bag.

"I think I should go back and see how Jennifer's doing." I squeak and quickly return to the waiting room and uncomfortable plastic chairs.

"The family of Miss Jennifer Wallace may see her now." A nurse's crisp, chipper voice called. I got up so quickly the chair nearly fell over and speed walked to Jennifer's hospital room. I was taken aback by Jennifer's condition, her leg was in traction and a large cast went up to mid thigh. Her eyes were closed, but the look on her face suggested that she was in a bit of pain.

"Jennifer?" I stood at the side of her bed by her head. Her eyes opened a crack and she groaned in response Before quickly shutting them again and resting her hands over her eyes. I walked over and turned the lights off.

"You can open your eyes now if you want." Jennifer opened her eyes a crack, and then opened them fully, looking over at me.

"How are you feeling?" I knew it was probably a dumb question, but I couldn't think of anything else to ask.

"I've been better." She mumbled.

"I know." I gently rubbed her shoulder, and swept some of her hair out of her face.

"How did I get here?" She looked at her surroundings and then at me.

"Sodapop took you here after the fight with the socs. You were pretty beat up." Jennifer's nose crinkled while she thought, then her eyes got big.

"Where's Emma?! Is she okay?" Jennifer was about to sit up, but I pushed her back into bed.

"She went home with Two-Bit. She just needed some stitches and pain medicine. She's going to be just fine. I promise." I looked toward the door and noticed Sodapop standing outside. "There's someone else who wants to see you right now." I said gently as I motioned him inside. Jennifer's face brightened when she saw Sodapop, and he smiled warmly at her.

"How are you doing?" I never imagined a greaser's voice to be so quiet and concerned. Jennifer grimaced.

"I assumed so." He gently touched Jennifer's hand. I squirmed awkwardly, hoping to find a way out of this situation.

"I'm going to go get some rest, but I want to show you something before I go." I placed the music box in Jennifer's hands, wound it up, and opened it. It began to play "I Could Have Danced All Night." Jennifer's eyes lit up, and she had a small smile on her face.

"It's beautiful, Angelina. Thank you."

"Hang on. That's not all." I pulled the necklace from my bag and put it on Jennifer.

"Angelina, you didn't have to buy me this."

"I know, but I wanted something to cheer you up with."

"Thanks so much." Jennifer said once again, smiling at me. I left the hospital room and ran straight into Johnny.

"Hey, Angelina. Come outside with me for a little while." Johnny led me out to the parking lot. The stars were just beginning to come out. I sat down on the cement, and Johnny followed suite.

"See those stars?" I point towards the Big Dipper, tracing the pattern with my finger. "That's the Big Dipper. Its part of a bigger constellation called Ursa Major, that means large bear." Johnny smiled at me.

"There's the North Star. It's said that you can see it from anywhere in the world." I point to the star and think about stargazing with my family when we used to go camping together.

"Does that star have a name?" He asked, pointing to a small star in the middle of the night sky.

"I don't think so..." I look towards him curiously.

"Then I'm going to name it Angelina." He placed his hand on top of mine. We sat like that for what felt like hours.

"Maybe we should head home. It's been a long night." Johnny nods and helps me up.

I run back into the hospital and check in on Jennifer one last time, she was about to fall back asleep.

"Good night, Jennifer. See you in the morning." I gave her a quick sisterly kiss on the forehead and left the room.

"Hey, Darry, is it all right if I crash at you place tonight. I promise, we are going to have a house soon, we're just working on making a deal with the seller."

"Sure, just make sure you don't walk alone." Darry sounded just like my father.

"I won't. Johnny said he'll walk with me." With that, I turned and left the hospital. When Johnny saw me, he casually walked over and took my hand. Together, we headed back to the Curtis's house.


	19. Shades and friends

Jennifer POV

I woke up in the early afternoon and nearly forgot where I was. Oh, right, I was in the hospital with a dislocated knee joint and a shattered patella, or at least, that's what my nurse said. I opened my eyes and groaned at the blindingly bright lights, quickly shutting them again. Looks like my concussion wasn't better from last night. I turned my head towards the bedside table and risked opening my eyes again. The first thing I saw was a nice pair of sunglasses and a note.

'Jenna,

Two-Bit swiped these from the store for his sister, but they were too big for her. I asked him to give them to me to give to you. I hope you like them.

-Sodapop Curtis'

He spelled my name wrong, a common mistake, but for once, I didn't mind. I put on the sunglasses, immediately grateful for relief from the glaring lights.

"Miss Wallace? You have visitors." A young nurse said, popping into my room. I was thankful that the nurse spoke quietly.

"All right." I said, hoping they were some friends. It gets pretty lonely being in a barren room with no color. With a bright smile Rachel bounced in with Emma slinking in behind her.

"Emma!" I exclaimed. She smiled and patted my hand gently.

"Hang on. I've got something for you." Emma said while sprinting out of the room. I looked at Rachel and she grinned widely. Emma returned with an obnoxious number of balloons trailing behind her, almost getting stuck in the small doorway. I could've sworn that I even saw one that said 'Happy Retirement!' Rachel and Emma started tying them to every inanimate object they could find. I stared at Emma, wondering why on earth she thought I needed that many balloons.

"They were on sale at the party store." She explained simply. I was surprised Emma could tell I was confused with the sunglasses on. I nodded my head slowly, still wondering why she bought so many.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked Emma. She looked much better than I expected but she was panting while tying up the balloons.

"Well I've got to take pills for my ribs and I have a couple battle scars." She said, sitting on the bed. She turned her head and moved away her hair to reveal two long stitched up cuts on her face. I found it hard to look at them for long, since they looked pretty grotesque, but I was happy to see her in better condition than I last remembered.

"What's wrong with your ribs?"

"Kind of like your knee, busted. They said they are cracked and I've got to take pills for the pain." She said, her strain in breathing emphasizing her condition.

"What happened after you got stitched up?"

"Two-bit took her to his place. She was so drugged up she could barely stand." Rachel said laughing.

I laughed along with them. We've been so lucky with having the greasers on our side. Without them, Emma and I could still be stuck in that basement, or worse. I glanced at Soda's note again, and then looked over at the clock on the wall to see the time. Three thirty.

"Oh my gosh!" I yelled, my head ringing from the noise.

"What's wrong?" Both a nurse walking by and my friends ask simultaneously. I waved the nurse away as my head cleared.

"I've got a job." I groaned, my head sinking into my pillow. "And I'm stuck here for at least a week."

"Crap, and I've got that job too." Emma said.

"And me." Rachel added. We all sat quietly, half embarrassed for missing work and half concerned how to fix this.

"Emma you have to see Ethel." I finally say. "You need to tell her that I'm unable to work and somehow explain why you missed your first shift." I could tell Emma didn't want to go, but that little lady was so sweet and I'd hate to disappoint her and potentially lose my job.

"I guess we could go after this." Emma said, almost sounding disappointed.

"Sure we can walk down there." Rachel replied.

"Wait, did you guys come alone?" I asked, hoping Sodapop or even Darry would come into the room.

"Yep." Rachel said confidently.

"You girls have to stay with one of the guys. We can't have the same thing happen again." I commanded them, feeling phantom hands go up chest and feet pound against my head. I knew I sounded like a mother, but after all that's happened, I would feel awful if another bad thing happened to my friends.

Emma noticed my sudden discomfort. "I'll call Two-Bit to pick us up." She said as she exited the room. I heard her drop some change into the nearby phone and start to dial.

"So where did you get those neat shades?" Rachel asked as she took them off my face to try them on herself.

"Soda gave them to me." I squinted against the light and Rachel quickly gave them back to me.

"That was nice of him." Rachel smiled. I returned her smile with a yawn. Rachel looked at me sympathetically and started getting ready to leave.

"Sorry, these pain meds are pretty strong." I said, my eyes closing behind my shades.

"Its fine, you should get some rest anyway." Rachel said as she reached the door.

The last thing I heard before falling back to sleep were the soft voices of my two friends in the hall outside my room.


	20. Eavesdropping

Angelina POV

I hazily woke up to the sound of voices. Male voices. _I'm going to be so happy when I don't have to wake up and worry about who else is in the room._ I recognized Darry and Sodapop talking in the kitchen. I was still catching up on sleep from my shift at work and the crazy night at the hospital so it was nice they let me crash here. I lazily sat up on the Curtis' couch and grabbed my glasses off the coffee table.

"I don't know, Sodapop, they seem like nice girls and all, but there's something fishy about them." My ears perked up as I hear Darry finish up. I carefully pushed the blanket off myself as I got up and tried not to make a sound as I inched closer to the doorway. I plastered my back to the wall, making sure they wouldn't see me.

"They're just like us, Darry. They don't come from great homes, they get it."

"I know but why of all places did they chose Tulsa to settle down? And why of all people to become friends with, did they choose us? And that Jennifer girl is a bit creepy. It feels like she knows our life stories or something." I laughed to myself, knowing how true Darry's last statement was.

"I think it's just fate. And don't call Jennifer creepy." I could hear in Sodapop's voice he was hurt by Darry's comment.

"Fate? Since when did you believe in fate, little buddy?"

"Since I met Jennifer." _Oh man._

"Really now?"

"Yes. There's just something about her-"

"That makes her creepy?"

"No. Well I mean..."

"You like her." Darry said slowly, putting the pieces together.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean I DON'T KNOW." I bit my lip trying not to make any noise.

"Listen here, I'll support you in whatever you choose to do, but just be careful. We've only known these girls for what? Five days?"

"I know. Just give them a chance Darry. They seem like good girls."

"All right. All right." Once I sensed that the tension is over, I tried to casually walk in to get myself breakfast.

"Hey, Angelina, how long have you been up?" Sodapop looked up at me from his wholesome breakfast of eggs, chocolate cake, and chocolate milk.

"I just got up a minute ago." I said, yawning for emphasis.

"Why don't you join us for breakfast." Darry offers. I smiled and quietly sat down at the little round table and helped myself to some scrambled eggs and milk. I just couldn't eat cake this early in the morning.

"Why don't you tell us a bit more about yourself?" Darry prodded. I looked down at my lap, trying to remember the story Jennifer told of how we got here. _We ran away from abuse, got it._

"What do you want to know?" I asked, taking a sip of my milk.

"Tell us about you and your sister. How old are you two?" Sodapop asked between bites of cake.

"Well, I'm seventeen, and Jennifer is sixteen."

"Really? I thought you were twins, or if anyone was older it was your sister." I wasn't sure how to respond to Sodapop's comment.

"So when are your birthdays?" Darry asked.

"Mine is June 12 and hers is July 18."

"What about the others?" Darry's eyes were piercing. I felt like I was giving a speech and could feel my chest tighten with nerves. _You're telling the truth, calm down!_

"Emma's is December 21 and Rachel's is August 31." I said slowly.

"So you're the oldest?" Sodapop questioned.

"No, actually, Emma is the oldest at 18. Rachel is the youngest at 15." I added.

"That's cool." Darry said casually. "I have to head out. I'm working an extra shift today to finish up this roof we're working on."

"I should probably head out too and check on my sister." I said, putting my plate in the sink.

"I'll take you down." Sodapop offered.

"Thanks, but I'm going to freshen up first." I finished off my milk and walk to the bathroom. I started to fix my hair and heard Sodapop and Darry through the crack in the door.

"See? There's nothing wrong with them." Sodapop said putting dishes in the sink.

"All right. I'll give the girls a chance, but we need to be careful. We don't need them to have any more run ins with that soc gang." I heard the door close and Darry's truck start up as I rinsed out my mouth with warm water.

Phew, I dodged a bullet there. I know if Darry doesn't trust us we won't be going anywhere

"Angelina? You ready?" Sodapop called from the kitchen. I finished buttoning my dress and step out of the bathroom. "Alright, let's roll." He said as he pulled a random shirt over his undershirt. I giggled when it turned to be inside out. "What?" I merely pointed at the tag hanging at his side and he laughed at himself as he fixed it. With both of us ready, we headed out the door and began walking down the sidewalk to see Jennifer.


	21. A house

Jennifer POV

"Miss Wallace? Your sister is here." My nurse came in and stood by my bed, she removed the I.V. needle from my arm and put a band aid over the area. I looked in the opposite direction, trying to keep my breathing steady. _This is no place for a panic attack over needles._

"Thanks Eleanor." I smile looking at the flowered band aid.

"No problem kid. Just try to stay away from here for now on." She joked while packing up my used supplies and food tray from breakfast. "Hopefully I'll never have to see you in this setting again." Eleanor laughed and ruffled my hair. As she left, Angelina came in with a bag of clothing.

"Excited to get out of here?"

"Obviously. I forgot what outside looked like." Angelina rolled her eyes and pulled of the covers on the bed.

"It's only been a week and a half." She says while helping me change into a light pink skirt and a white blouse.

"I know, but it was a week and a half that I spent worrying about you guys and wondering what on earth we were going to do."

"We'll figure it out eventually, but for now you just need to focus on getting better." I was surprised by Angelina's response, especially since I knew she was eager to go home and for everything to go back to normal.

"Your chariot awaits m'lady." Sodapop appeared in the doorway with a wheelchair and a nurse trailing behind him. When Soda approached me, he bowed stiffly at the waist. I giggled as I pushed myself off the bed and eased myself into the chair. I allowed Angelina to roll me out of my room and my face lit up when I saw Rachel, Emma, and Two-Bit.

"She lives!" Two-Bit exclaimed, earning a light slap from Emma. "Ouch!" He rubbed his arm and pretended to look hurt.

"You deserved it." Emma smirked.

"So what are your plans now that you're out of the hospital?" Sodapop leaned over my shoulder. I was almost tempted to say _I'm going to Disney World_.

"We're going to close on our house and then get dinner." I said excited.

"We can walk you girls over. If you want that is." Sodapop offered.

"That would be great." I replied, turning a bit to look at him. He gripped the handles of my wheelchair and began pushing me out of the waiting room.

"Be careful." Angelina warned, picking up her pace to keep up.

"I will." He called back to her, probably flashing his signature movie star smile. I heard her sigh, and her footsteps slow slightly.

The sun was nice on my face as we traveled to the real estate office. Everyone looked in a chipper mood, especially Angelina. She's probably just happy not to be living with a bunch of boys and that I'm out of the hospital. Two-Bit kept on running around Emma, purposefully trying to make her annoyed. _Good luck with that buddy_. When we could see the building, we raced to the front door.

"Sorry Jennifer, looks like you'll have to stay out here." Angelina told me, slightly panting from the run. I nodded, glaring at the four steps up to the front porch.

"I'll stay with her." Emma offered.

"No. You have to sign the papers." Angelina replied, linking her arm with Emma's.

"It's fine. Two-Bit and I will stay out here." Sodapop said. Angelina smiled gratefully and quickly ushered Emma and Rachel into the building.

"Hey, I never got a chance to properly thank you for taking me to the hospital."

"No problem. Anyone would have done it." Sodapop crouched by me so we could be at eye level.

"Sure," I say rolling my eyes, "Just like anyone would lie to their big brother to prevent him from kicking out a group of girls that suddenly appeared in his house."

"Alright, you got me." He said holding up his arms in surrender. "But you looked like you all needed a break; and that was before I knew what happened to you. I can't even imagine how you felt after running away." I nodded, beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well, you know... Your door was unlocked and we were tired."

"I know. We keep it unlocked in case someone runs into trouble and needs shelter."

"Maybe it's fate that your gang and my girls met."

"Maybe." Sodapop smiled softly with a dreamy look in his eyes.

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. "We should probably get my prescriptions filled before we go home."

"I can do that now if you want." Two-Bit offered.

"That would be great. Thanks." I turn to ask him a question but he's already running off to nowhere. Oh right, he was going to the drugstore for my prescription. I looked at Sodapop, suddenly wishing for a bit more company. It wasn't that I didn't trust Sodapop, I just didn't like the thought of being alone with him. What if I said something stupid? That would be awkward.

"Are you okay?" I was startled out of my thoughts by Sodapop's sudden question.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"What about?"

"The new house, the girls, the socs..." _You_.

"It's going to be fine. We won't let anyone hurt you."

"I know, but I still worry." Soda simply nodded his head and we sat in silence for a while. Suddenly we heard a door creak open and Angelina bounced out with a set of keys.

"The house is ours!" She exclaimed, leaning down to hug me.

"That's great! I want to go see it." I couldn't help but feel happy, and Angelina's good mood fueled mine even more.

"Where did that idiot Two-Bit go?" Emma asked while looking around.

"You've been mentioning his name a lot Emma." Rachel stated smiling. I looked over at Emma shocked and confused. By the way she acted two weeks ago I thought something would have happened. Then again she thinks all boys are idiots and doesn't tolerate them.

"Are you surprised? That red head never leaves me alone." Emma said genuinely annoyed.

"He went down to the drugstore." I said simply. Emma nodded her head.

"Let's go to the house." Angelina said quickly. She began to lead the way, and we all followed. The whole way there I couldn't stop thinking about Sodapop. Just everything about him was perfect, his looks, his voice, his attitude. I've had a crush on him since I was 13, and now he's a real life person. It was hard to control my fangirl reactions, but I felt like I had done well so far.

"Earth to Jennifer." I nearly fell out of my wheelchair when Rachel startled me.

"Huh? What?"

"We're here."

"Oh." I take a look at the front of the house. It looked like my friends did a pretty good job at finding a nice place. The front door was painted pale blue and had small window. I could see a cute backyard behind the house and windows all around.

"Well do you want to go inside or what?" Emma asked. I wasn't quite sure whether she was being sarcastic or if she was genuinely irritated.

"Yeah. Let's go inside." It was a slightly bumpy ride up the two stairs to enter the house, but I was pretty impressed when I actually got inside. We entered straight into the living room, and the kitchen was separated by a half wall. Down a hallway were two small bedrooms and a bathroom. The master was a 12x12 square, just big enough for Angelina and I to share. The other was 10x10, which Rachel and Emma already planned to share. Each room had built in closets with plenty of room for what little we needed to store. The house was a lot bigger than I expected, not that I was complaining.

"So, what do you think?" Angelina asked.

"I love it." I gushed.

"Hey, I think I'm going to head out soon. Two-Bit will be back with your meds in about thirty minutes." Sodapop said.

"Alright. See you later." _Hopefully sooner rather than later._

* * *


	22. Furniture

Rachel POV

I walked into the Curtis' kitchen with the smell of chocolate cake lingering in the air. With us officially moving into our new place today, I was going to have to get used to not waking up to loud voices and the smell of chocolate. Everyone else had already served themselves so I poured myself some milk and cereal and sat down.

"Who wants to go shopping for furniture with us?" Jennifer asked around the breakfast table.

"Johnny and I will." Ponyboy offered almost immediately.

"Thanks. And I assume you guys don't mind some lifting and building. We're going to need help getting the furniture inside and set up." Jennifer warned.

"That's fine." Johnny said simply, looking over at Angelina who was just finishing her breakfast.

"Do you have some tools we could borrow?" Angelina asked after she swallowed the last of her cereal.

"Yeah. Darry has Dad's old toolbox in the garage." Ponyboy responded, finishing off his glass of chocolate milk.

"I don't think we need an entire toolbox. Just screwdrivers and maybe a hammer." I said softly.

"All right. I'll go get those and then we can leave." We put all our dishes in the sink, and after Ponyboy came back we headed out the door. The boys told us of a nearby second hand furniture shop and we began walking. _Well, most of us. Emma pushed Jennifer in her wheelchair._

"So what exactly do you girls need?" Ponyboy asked me.

"Beds, a kitchen table and chairs, and some furniture for the living room."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"It isn't. We just need enough to get by, and that's all we can afford anyway."

"I see." Ponyboy said with his hands in his pockets.

"The store is right there." Johnny said while pointing to a mostly abandoned strip mall, the one store that was open was called Chris's Used Furniture. We walked through the door and a crisp bell rang over head.

"Hey, no loitering around my store." A man boomed.

"No, no. We're here for furniture." Angelina said. The man behind the counter eyed us slightly and then went back to his coffee. "Alright, Rachel why don't you go look for a table and chairs for the kitchen. I'll try to find some beds."

"And I'll go get stuff to make everything pretty." Jennifer said beginning to wheel herself toward the home decorating area, already pointing at a rug.

"Emma, can you stay with Jennifer to make sure she doesn't buy another house?" Angelina said with a tired sigh. She caught up with Jennifer and they disappeared behind a bookcase. Angelina walked toward the bedding area and Johnny trailed close behind.

"Do you know anything about furniture?" I asked Ponyboy walking between tables and chairs.

"Just that you sit and sleep on them." He responded. "My mom was the big interior designer of the family." I laughed a little as I checked out a small card table.

"This looks like it would work in the kitchen. And it's light enough we could easily carry it out." I said picking up a corner. It looked about three by three and had a smooth black finish.

"What do you think about these chairs?" I looked over and Ponyboy pointed to four folding chairs that matched the table.

"Great." I said grabbing the order sheet for the table and chairs.

"Jennifer? What the heck do you have?" I looked around and spotted Jennifer practically hiding behind two cream colored beanbags and Emma stood beside her carrying a rolled up area rug and two slips of paper. Angelina was holding two slips as well but they were buried in her fist.

"Come on Angelina, we can't just live on beds and tables. We need things to make everything homey and cute."

"Jennifer." Angelina drew out, probably mentally calculating the cost of everything that we've bought and are going to need. Ever since we finalized the house she's been counting everything so we don't go broke. Johnny placed his hand on her shoulder and it looked like she relaxed slightly.

"Hey, I'm going to be spending my pay check on everything. So stop worrying about it." Jennifer finally said, beginning to place everything on the counter. Angelina placed her two slips on the counter as I walked up. The final total of $100 was just under Jennifer's pay for a week and we gave the man our address for the delivery.

We walked slowly to the house just as everything was being unloaded onto the curb.

"Okay, if we all work together, getting the furniture into the house shouldn't take too long." Jennifer said.

"All right, but what are you going to do?" Emma asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'll cheer you guys on and tell you where everything goes."

"Seriously? You're going to be a cheerleader while the rest of us are slaving away in the heat carrying all this damn furniture?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Jennifer gestured towards her bum leg.

"I don't know." Emma shrugged.

Jennifer wheeled herself into the family room. "Okay, the couch goes against the side wall, and I want the chairs by the half wall on an angle so that they face the couch."

"What about the bean bag chairs?" I asked.

"Put one in each of our bedrooms. Oh, and the bunk bed goes in the smaller bedroom and the two twin beds go in the larger bedroom."

"And just double checking, but the kitchen table and chairs go on the other side of the half wall, correct?" Angelina asked.

"Right." Jennifer said happily. "And don't forget about the coffee table and the area rug."

"Okay, Jennifer. I think we know what to do with that stuff." Emma said.

"I still can't believe that she bought all that stuff." Angelina whispered to Johnny. I gave her a warning nudge in the ribs.

"Let's get started." Jennifer said excitedly.

"Oh boy." Emma said sarcastically.

"Well would you rather eat and sleep on the floor?" Jennifer asked indignantly. Emma rolled her eyes and followed the rest of us out to the garage to begin moving furniture.

"Okay, so who is tackling what?" Angelina asked, figuring out how to divide the work.

"Rachel and I can put the beds together." Ponyboy offered immediately.

"All right. Do you guys mind carrying the rest of the stuff in?" I asked.

"I guess." Emma huffed and threw her arms in the air.

"Here, Johnny and I can just carry that couch in for you girls." Ponyboy offered.

"Thanks." Angelina looked at the boys with relief evident in her eyes. Ponyboy grunted when he picked up the couch and Johnny's face turned slightly red. They managed to put the couch in the correct spot the first time and me and Ponyboy grabbed the bunk bed box and brought it into the smaller room.

"All right. So how do we actually put this thing together?" Ponyboy stared at the instructions.

"Why are you asking me? I thought you would know."

"Hey, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can build everything." I laughed and took the instructions from Ponyboy.

"Okay, so first lets seperate everything and figure out what tools we actually need. Then I think the actual building part won't be so bad." I began taking metal pieces out of the box and laying them out by size.

"A little bit more to the right... No, your other right. Almost there... PERFECT!" I laughed as I listened to Jennifer giving directions on where to put everything.

"Is she always like that?" Ponyboy asked me.

"Is who always like what?"

"Jennifer. Is she always such a leader?"

"It really depends, but when she puts her mind to something, she won't let anything stop her." I said placing everything on the floor in neat rows.

"I guess that is a good trait to have." He trailed off slightly, looking at the directions. "Will you hand me the Phillips head?" I laughed and handed Ponyboy the screwdriver. We worked together to finish building the bed, I mostly held the parts and Ponyboy actually built it, but I didn't mind. We has a lot of fun just talking to each other.

"That just about does it. Ready for the next bed?"

"Sure." I said grinning at Ponyboy.


	23. Drunken idiot

Angelina POV

I was standing behind the counter at work filing my nails since no one was usually out at two in the morning. The jingle of the bell on the door startled me and I saw three young men stumbling in, clearly in a drunken stupor.

"Hi. How may I help you?" I asked politely, plastering a disinterested smile on my face.

"Yes, we would like three double cheeseburgers, a large fry, two medium blizzards, onion rings, two large cokes, and four chilli cheese dogs. Oh, and two barbecue sandwich combos." I tried to write as fast as I could and decipher what he was saying through his alcohol breath. Once I finished, I glanced up at the boy who was talking. Even with his hair hanging down in front of his eyes, he looked vaguely familiar.

"All right, that will be $25. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"How about your number?"

"Not going to happen." I said confidently. The boy reached into his wallet and flung cash at me. As I counted the money I noticed the number of rings he wore. _Seriously? Why me?_ I restarted counting and kept my breath steady.

"Oh what a shame. A pretty girl like you deserves a man to take her out and give her a good time." He said, trying to lean on the counter but subsequently slipping off. I laughed slightly when his forehead made contact with the counter.

"How about you go sit in a booth and I'll call your name when all your food is ready." I said, carefully putting the cash away in the register.

"All right. I'm Joe." He said rubbing his head.

"Okay, I'll call you in a bit." I gave the order slip to Erin, the night time fry cook, and went in my boss's office.

"Hey Richard, there are a couple of drunk guys in the dining area. I think I have it under control for now, but if it gets out of control I'm going to need your help." I said urgently.

"Okay." Was all he replied.

When I walk out the boys had taken a seat in one of the farther booths. I started filling up the coke cups as I hummed some song that Jennifer's mom used to sing when she was making cookies. _Baby, baby, where did our love go?_

"Whatcha singing?" Joe asked from across the room.

"A song." I replied, putting the caps on the cups.

"Which one?" He asked me, stumbling back towards the counter.

"Something by the Supremes." I said as I turned around to check on the food.

"Oh really? Because I think you're supreme." _Ew_.

"Ummm... Thanks?" I think?

"No problem babe." His eyes swept up and down my figure, coming to rest back on my face. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"No." I said quickly, checking to see how Erin was doing.

"I swear I saw you somewhere." He stared into space for a minute with his mouth open slightly. "It must have been a dream then."

"Maybe... Here's your food." I said while quickly handing him the bags.

"Thanks sweetheart." He reached across the counter and grabbed my hand rather than the food. "Let's get out of here. A working girl like you deserves a fun time." I tried to pull away but he pulled harder.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." My boss appeared next to me.

"What did you say?" Joe asked, letting go of my hand. I quickly stepped back into the kitchen and held my hand against my chest. He looked between me and Richard as he cracked his knuckles. Richard simply stepped around to the other side and faced him.

"I'm sorry, we don't allow intoxicated people into this building." Richard swiftly took the bags of food in one hand and grabbed Joe's upper arm with the other. He steered Joe to the door, and one of his friends got up too. "You'd better grab your friend there." Richard said gesturing to the third, now sleeping, drunk soc. The second friend went over and pushed him off the booth onto the floor. He then gruffly pulled him off the floor and to the door, all while eyeing Richard with big eyes.

I watched as Richard took Joe outside and the other two stumbled to a white car. Richard opened the door and placed the food inside and gestured for Joe to get in. He attempted to punch Richard but ended up missing by a mile. Joe then climbed into the car and Richard stood outside until the car left. He walked in and looked back outside.

"Are you all right?" He asked turning to me.

"I, I think so." I said almost whispering, still looking out at the now vacant parking lot.

"Okay." He said softly. "I think I'll stay out here until your shifts done."

"Thank you." I said, my voice now returning. He didn't respond but simply nodded his head as he sat and watched the windows.


	24. Give them what they want

Emma POV

"I still don't see why we have to invite everyone over." I told Jennifer as she rummaged through the cabinets trying to find ten plates and sets of silverware. She was having a little trouble balancing on a single crutch, but managed not to fall down. _Quite a feat for Jennifer._

"Because the the Curtis's were nice enough to let us stay at their house for two and a half weeks. And we're finally settled in here, so it makes sense that we do it now." Jennifer explained to me.

"All right, but don't expect me to do any cookng." I said looking through the cupboard for something to eat.

"Why? You took all the cooking classes when you were in high school."

"Well, I can occassionally get all the cereal in the bowl, but that's about it." Angelina cracked up from her spot at the kitchen table, and some of the milk she was drinking dribbled down her chin.

"Okay then. You can scoop ice cream, but since we're all doing the cooking you have to clean." Jennifer said.

"I think I can do that." I replied. "What are we even having for dinner?"

"Well I'm going to make a batch of macaroni and cheese and buy out the local fried chicken place." Angelina said getting up.

"Chicken?" I said excitedly.

"For dinner Emma."

"Aww but I want chicken now."

"You can have a bagel." Jennifer replied, still with her head in the cabinet.

"But I don't want a bagel. I want chicken."

"Well, then you can get the first plate. At dinner." Angelina said again grabbing a book out of the cabinet. Rachel started looking over Angelina's shoulder as she flipped through the pages. I grab the bagel and sit down on the couch. _Damn it. All I wanted was a little chicken and what did I get? A stupid bagel._ "Jennifer, do you want to make some salad?"

"I can do that." She said, finding a package of paper plates.

"All right. Could you make a fruit salad too?"

"Okay. Just make sure to buy some fruit when you go out to buy the chicken."

"All right." Angelina said grabbing the purse Ethel gave us and headed out the door.

It was just about four in the afternoon when Jennifer finished slicing fruit up for her fruit salad. She began placing them in a bowl when there was a loud knock on our door.

"It's open." She called lightly.

"HELLO LADIES!" Two-Bit screamed as he entered the kitchen. _Ugh, does that doofus ever shut up?_

"Hey Two-Bit." Jennifer said, looking up from her work.

"So where's the food?" He asked her, taking a strawberry out of the watermelon bowl with his fingers and popping it in his mouth. Jennifer lightly slapped his hand away when he went for a second piece of fruit.

"We can't eat until everyone else gets here." Jennifer explained slowly, as if she were talking to a child.

"But... Food." Two-Bit and I said at the same time.

"You heard what Jennifer said." Angelina commented, emerging from the bedroom with freshly curled hair.

"All right Mom." Two-Bit whined as he looked at Angelina. Angelina rolled her eyes, laughing lightly, and began setting the table.

There was another knock on the door, and I got up to answer it.

"Hi." Johnny said quietly, with Dally standing silently behind him.

"Oh, come in." I replied to him, gesturing inside. Dally looked at me warily, and stood by the wall in the kitchen.

"The Curtis's and Steve are on their way, Soda just couldn't find his shoes." Johnny explained to Jennifer. She laughed lightly and shook her head. Shortly afterwards, there was another knock on the door. Jennifer pushed herself out of her chair, checked her hair and makeup in her compact, and made her way to the door.

"Hi! Thanks so much for coming!" She said brightly, her smile glowing and her eyes sparkling. _I think I know who knocked._

"Thanks for having us." Darry said while checking out our living room.

"Dinner's about ready. How about you boys go wash up while we finish setting the table." Angelina called.

"Okay, Mom. Whatever you say." Two-Bit said. Angelina looked slightly annoyed this time and walked to the kitchen. The guys all got up and filed into the bathroom while Angelina and Rachel finished setting the serving platters and utensils on the table. They placed a pile of plates on one side of the table with the silverware next to it. Once the boys came out we lined up and began serving ourselves.

"I'll have a little of everything except the chicken." Jennifer told Angelina while sitting in the arm chair. We all knew if she had tried to get her own food, she would have dropped her plate.

"I still can't believe you're a vegetarian." I remarked while picking up a plate and serving myself some food.

"I've been since I was fourteen." She told me for the thousandth time since we became friends. I finished my plate and took one of the folding chairs for myself into the living room. I set it next to our couch but subsequently moved it when Two-Bit sat down next to me.

"You're a vegetarian?" Sodapop asked while sitting on the floor next to Jennifer's chair.

"Yep." She said popping the 'p'.

"That's pretty cool."

As we all got our food, we found places in our living room. Darry took a seat in the second armchair and Ponyboy and Rachel sat on the folding chairs close by. Angelina and Johnny were seated on the couch and Dally ate standing up, as usual. Steve sat on the floor, setting his plate on the coffee table. We ate in comfortable silence.

"So how have you guys been?" Sodapop asked after getting a second helping of chicken. "No more trouble with those fish?" We all laugh at Sodapop's joke as he sat down.

"Pretty well," Jennifer said taking a sip of water, "no sights of the socs plus the shop Emma and I work at has been doing great."

"And the librarian said I could continue working once school starts." Rachel added. Darry smiled and nodded.

"It's good to hear that you all have been doing well." Darry said.

"What about you, Angelina?" Johnny asked quietly. We looked over, realizing she hadn't said anything since she called us all to eat.

Angelina coughed nervously. "Well, actually, a few Black Stingrays walked into Dairy Queen last night and were bugging me. My boss got them to leave though." We all looked over at Angelina, shocked. She hadn't even told us about this.

"Damn it." Steve slammed his hand on the coffee table, causing his plate and silverware to clatter. "Those socs need to be taught a lesson. All they're doing is asking for a fight, and I don't mind giving them what they are asking for."

"What?!" Angelina squeaked.

"No!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Well what do you want us to do, let them get away with it?" Steve roared.

"Well, no, but isn't there another way to solve this?" Jennifer asked timidly.

"I'm afraid not. Those socs won't let down unless we do something about it." Darry said.

"Ponyboy, do you want to help me with dessert?" Rachel asked quickly. Ponyboy quickly got up and followed Rachel in to the kitchen. I followed behind them to help scoop ice cream.

"I'll serve the brownies and Emma can scoop the ice cream. Do you mind bringing the food out to everyone?" She asked Ponyboy. He simply nodded his head and stationed himself at the end of the counter. I watched as Rachel cut out perfect brownie squares, and I tried to center my scoop of ice cream on top of the squares.

After all the desserts were served, we ate in awkward silence. Almost no one made eye contact or moved much. Darry broke the flow by getting up and began talking to Dally in hushed tones. As everyone finished their dessert Angelina got up and began to collect dirty dishes. After Angelina collected his plate, Darry sat down. She then went to the kitchen and returned after putting all the dirty dishes in the sink. She sat down and Darry stood back up, standing in the middle of the room.

"You girls really need to learn how to protect yourselves." Darry told us. We nodded slowly, not knowing where this was heading.

"You girls are gonna get a fighting lesson on Sunday." Dally said brusquely.

"A fighting lesson?" Angelina questioned.

"You don't want to end up like your sister, do you?" Dally asked, gesturing to Jennifer. "That's not even their full capability."

"No." Angelina said quietly, looking at her lap. She began fiddling with her skirt and bit her lip, glancing toward Jennifer. I could tell she wasn't comfortable with this idea at all.

"Angelina, they're right. We need to learn how to protect ourselves." Rachel said, also seeing Angelina's concern.

"We won't always have someone around to help us out if we get attacked." Jennifer added looking at Sodapop.

"I know, but I don't like the thought of fighting."

"It's not like you're going to walk down the street and throw punches at every person you see. It's purely self defense." I explained. Angelina nodded her head sighing.

"I suppose it's for the best." She finally said, glancing at Johnny.

"Now that we've got that covered, do you girls have a beer in your fridge?" Two-Bit got rid of all the tension in the room and we all began to laugh.

"Sorry, buddy. Can't buy it yet." Angelina said. "We're under aged, remember?"

"Maybe, Mom, but Nestor is 18. She could've bought some for her favorite greaser." _Favorite greaser my ass._

"We don't drink, so we don't buy beer. This building is strictly bring your own booze only." Jennifer told Two-Bit.

"Good thing I thought to bring some." He said while pulling out four bottles from his pockets. He offered some to me and I shook my head. _If you think I'd take something from you, your ginger head is more dumb that I thought._

"Anyone else want some?" Two-Bit asked. Everyone but Dally shook their heads. After Two-Bit finished his first beer, he reached for another.

"If you're going to get drunk, I'd appreciate if you didn't do it in our house." Angelina said suddenly.

"But Mmmmmooooooommmmm." Two-Bit whined.

"No buts." Angelina said firmly. Two-Bit took his remaining two beers and left with Dally. The rest of the greasers began getting up and making their way towards the door.

"Thanks for having us over." Darry said.

"Thanks so much for coming, and letting us use your house when we first came." Jennifer responded. As the greasers left one by one, we stood by the door to see them off.


	25. Here goes nothing

Sodapop POV

I stood across the street from the thrift shop. I could see Jennifer behind the counter helping a customer through the window. I tried not to snap a flower stem as I waited for her to finish up. After what seemed like hours, the customer finally walked out with her purchases. I took that as my chance to walk across the street and walk into the store, hiding the flowers behind my back.

"Hey!" Jennifer said happily.

"Hi. Looks like a slow day." I observed as I made my way to the counter.

"Yeah, but it's all right, gives me time to think."

"I understand. Thanks again for dinner last night, it was really good." Jennifer blushed and giggled a little. _Awww she's so cute when she does that._

"It's no problem, really. I'm glad you came." Jennifer looked at me curiously. "So what brings you here today?" _All right, you can do this._

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." I said as I brought the flowers from behind my back. "Will you go on a date with me?" Jennifer leaped off her stool and hugged me from behind the counter, nearly falling from not having her crutches.

"I think I'll take that as a yes." I laughed after she grabbed her crutches and came to the other side of the counter.

"That was definitely a yes." She said, smiling.

"So are you free tonight?" I asked her.

"Yes."

"Awesome! I'll pick you up at your place around eight." I pulled her into one more hug, noticing how perfectly her body fit with mine.

I walked back into the DX and unbuttoned my shirt a bit.

"What's up with you? Got yourself a hot date tonight?" Steve teased me, probably looking at some silly grin plastered on my face.

"Yes actually." I told him, leaning over one of the cars I was supposed to be working on.

"Who?"

"Jennifer." I said, letting her name roll off my tongue.

"Wait, that's the girl with the jacked up knee, right?"

"Yeah." Steve paused, not sure what to say.

"Good for you." He said finally, taking in my excited grin. We got back to work, but I couldn't keep my mind off of Jennifer and the date I was planning.

"What are you looking so excited about, little buddy?" Darry asked me over dinner.

"I have a date tonight." I replied.

"With Jennifer?" It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Yes."

"Just be careful." Darry told me as we brought our plates to the sink.

"I will." I raced upstairs to get ready. I put on a clean pair of jeans and threw on a checkered button up over my undershirt. I grabbed my jacket on my way out of the house.

"Have fun and be safe!" Darry yelled through the door, sounding just like our mother when he went on dates.

"I will." I called back.

When I approached the house, my heart began beating double time. _All right, Sodapop, you can do this. Just knock on the door and ask for Jennifer. They're all nice girls. There aren't any scary dads who want to kill you._ I rapped at the door and Angelina opened it.

"Jennifer's just finishing getting ready. Why don't you come in and sit down for a couple minutes?" She said politely, reminding me of other girls' mothers. I entered the house and stood by the wall, I couldn't sit down, I was too nervous.

After what felt like eternity, but was probably just a few minutes in reality, I heard a door creak open, and the familiar clicking sound of Jennifer's crutches on the wood floor. Jennifer's eyes lit up when she saw me, and I wanted to run up and hug her the second I saw her, but I settled on walking up to her and putting my arm around her.

"Hello to you too." She laughed.

"Hi." I breathed, taking in how different she looked with curled hair and makeup.

"Be careful you two." Angelina said cautiously.

"I promise I'll bring her back in the same condition I took her out in." I tried to joke. Angelina glared at me, so I shut my mouth.

"So where exactly are we going?" Jennifer asked as we were walking down the sidewalk.

"I was thinking of going to see a movie at the Nightly Double."

"That sounds perfect." I looked down at Jennifer and smiled at her. _Perfect, yeah. Tonight is going to be a good night._


	26. Sixteen going on seventeen

Jennifer POV

"So where exactly are we going?" I asked as we were walking down the sidewalk.

"I was thinking of going to see a movie at the Nightly Double."

"That sounds perfect." I looked up at Sodapop and we smiled at each other.

As we approached the drive in, I looked up at the marquee and saw that The Sound to Music was playing. _I love that movie!_

"I hope you don't mind musicals." Sodapop said.

"I love them!" I gushed. "I know every song from that musical."

"Yay!" Sodapop said happily. As we walked down an aisle to find a seat, I saw a few of the Black Stingrays on the other side of Sodapop. My whole body tensed and my breathing became quick and shallow.

"Are you all right?" Sodapop looked around and glanced at the Stingrays. "It's all right, I'm right here." He comforted me as we walked past.

"You idiot, that was that girl who ratted out on us the first time, and she probably called the greasers' help when we hid her friends in the basement too." The boy was wearing the same checkered shirt as our first encounter was yelling at another guy with a lot of rings. I only prayed that they wouldn't notice me.

"Let's sit here." Sodapop told me. I simply nodded my head and sat down, Soda sat next to me and put his arm around me. I relaxed slightly at his touch. Even though we were farther away from the Stingrays, I could still hear them talk.

"John's going to-" The opening music started in the middle of his sentence. I leaned into Sodapop, trying to calm myself down.

"Are you okay?" Sodapop asked me. I suddenly realized what I was doing, and pulled away slightly. I looked down at my floral print dress, positive that I was turning red.

"Yeah, sorry." I started humming along with Maria, getting immersed into the movie. During the "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" song, I began daydreaming about Sodapop.

_I'm back in Ethel's shop and doing a fitting for a party dress. I turn around and Sodapop is walking through the doors, wearing a freshly ironed tuxedo. We walk toward each other and he holds out a single rose with a note tied to the stem. I look at the note and in perfect cursive is written "I love you"._

"I feel the same way." I whispered, surprising myself with my voice.

"Feel the same way about what?" Sodapop said looking at me. My face burned, and I was sure that I was super red.

"Um... Nothing."

"I thought you said something."

"I was just empathizing with Liesel."

"Oh. All right then" Sodapop leaned back into his seat. I bit my lip and tried to keep track of my mouth better. Nothing much happened after that and when it got late we decided to head back.

"So what did you think of the movie?" Sodapop asked me on our walk home.

"I liked it." I said nonchalantly.

"I like you too." What? I turned to Sodapop and he was smirking. "Don't deny it. You like me." He said as I tried to cover my face. I simply nodded my head as I looked at the cracks in the sidewalk. He lifted my chin with one finger so that I was looking in his eyes.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Y-Yes." I choked out. We started leaning in until our lips locked. He wrapped both his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, lifting me off the ground a few inches and causing me to drop my crutches. He set me down and kept one arm around me as he picked up my crutches and handed them back to me.

"You are sixteen going on seventeen, I'll take care of you." He sang to me. I giggled a little and we continued our walk back to my house with his arm around my shoulders.

I kissed Sodapop one more time on the doorstep before walking inside.

"I'll see you soon?" He half asked me.

"Definitely." I breathed. I opened the door and walked inside with a silly smile plastered to my face.

"So, how was the date?" Angelina asked me.

"Perfect." I sighed dreamily.

"Define perfect." She followed me into the bedroom and I began changing into my pajamas.

"Well..." I paused, not sure how to say it. "Sodapop and I are together now." I couldn't help but smile as I said it.

"Are you kidding me?!" I couldn't tell whether Angelina was happy for me or upset, probably a bit of both.

"Is that good or bad?" I ask warily.

"Both. I mean, I'm happy that you're happy, but what about going home?"

"What about it?"

"We'll you're going to just randomly disappear one day and break Soda's heart. Did you even think of that?" Angelina's voice raised slightly.

"Angelina, what if we can't go back? We might as well be happy of we're going to be stuck here." I said quietly, trying to fight tears.

"We are going to find a way back sooner or later. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Angelina, I think I really love him."

"You're sixteen. What do you know about love?" I looked down at my feet as a lump appeared in my throat.

"Hey. Don't cry." Angelina said softly as she wrapped me in a hug and sat down on the bed. "We'll figure this out. Just keep in mind that if we find a way back it's up to you to figure out what to do about Sodapop." I nodded my head slowly as we both got up to get ready for bed.


	27. On the town

Emma POV

"Good morning ladies!" A male voice boomed. I shot up and hit my head on Rachel's bunk.

"Owwww." I mumbled. I looked at the clock. _7:45 who the hell is waking us up?_ I got out of bed and padded down the hall. When I entered the living area, I walked straight into Two-Bit.

"Oomph. What are you doing here?" I yelled.

"I thought I would pay you guys a visit." Two-Bit explained nonchalantly as he went over to rummage through our fridge.

"Hands off the food." I growled.

"What?"

"If you wanted food, why don't you go buy some?" I was getting incredibly irritated with Two-Bit.

"What's the fun in that?" Finally, something in me snapped.

"Get out!" I screamed.

"What is going on in here?" Angelina yelled sleepily. "I just went to bed two hours ago, can't you guys be quiet?"

I glared at Two-Bit. "This idiot decided to come in our house, wake us up, and then eat our food."

"I'll let you figure that out, but please be quiet." Angelina yawned and returned to bed.

"So what do you want to do today?" Two-Bit bounced slightly on his heels. He reminded me of an overexcited puppy.

"I am going back to bed. You are leaving." I said trying to shove him out the door.

"Fine, fine. I know when I'm not wanted." Two-Bit said, feigning hurt. "But I'll be back around nine to pick you up and show you around." I rolled my eyes and slammed the door behind him. I tried to return to bed, but I couldn't fall back to sleep. I decided to go to the living room and read some of the magazines that the Curtis brothers gave us. Granted, they were mostly about cars and sports, but it was better than nothing. Once I heard Rachel stirring, I headed back to our room so I could get dressed.

"Did something happen earlier?" She said rubbing her eyes while leaning against the bunk bed.

"Ya, Mr. Fire-Hair decided to pay a loud visit." I say rummaging through my side of the closet for my jeans and a clean blouse.

"What did he want?" Rachel said starting to wake up more.

"I have no idea but he's coming back at nine." I responded starting to walk to the bathroom.

"What?" I could tell Rachel was thoroughly confused, probably because she just woke up, but I didn't have anymore answers to provide.

I looked through the Curtis' magazines for the tenth time and check the clock. _8:59, he's gonna be storming down that door any minute._ I got up to grab a glass of water and heard a faint tapping. _Must be that tree branch again._ I filled my glass and heard the tap again, but louder.

"Emma?" I walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey." I said moving to the side to let Two-Bit in.

"Sorry about this morning. Angelina isn't too mad at me, is she?" Two-Bit asked quietly.

"If she is, she'll get over it." I replied flopping onto the couch. "So what are we doing anyway?"

"I told you, we're getting breakfast and walking around town."

"I have work today." I attempted to protest.

"You will be there on time. I promise." He smiled slightly, but not like like his usual smirk. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get out of this one.

"All right. Fine! You win!" I said, throwing my arms in the air.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Two-Bit said as he yanked me through the door. I nearly fell down the porch steps.

"Turn down the engine buddy." I said as he slowed down slightly.

"Why? You don't like life in the fast lane?" He said back with his usual smirk on his face.

"Haha very funny." I rolled my eyes and walked slightly behind him. "So where are we going anyway?"

"The Dingo." He said simply.

"Dingo? As in the Australian animal?"

"You haven't heard of The Dingo? It's the drive in that all us greasers go to." He explained incredulously.

"Well sorry. I've only lived here for what? A month? Do you really expect me to know every little building here?"

"Right. You just fit in so easily that I forget you're still new." He shrugged. As we continued walking, Two-Bit made a point of pointing out every hang out and popular joint we passed.

"Here it is." I took in the packed parking lot and the large population of greasers.

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked.

"You're one of us now. Nobody is going to try to hurt you when I'm around."

"Yes, because that's so comforting." I said dramatically, rolling my eyes. Two-Bit laughed and I laughed too as we walked in.

"Two burgers, two cokes, and a large fry." Two-Bit told the cashier. He nodded his head and sent our order back to the kitchen.

"Thanks for asking me what I wanted." I joked, elbowing Two-Bit in the ribs.

"Your welcome." He joked back. I shook my head and went to find us seats while Two-Bit stayed behind to wait for our food.

A greaser approached me and leaned over the table. "So you're one of the girls who hangs with the Curtis gang." He said. I slowly nodded my head, not sure where this was heading.

"Dally's told me a lot about you girls."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He said that you guys kind of just appeared out of no where."

"Leave her alone, Tim!" For once, I was relieved to hear Two-Bit's voice booming over the crowd.

"I ain't doing no harm."

"Like hell you weren't." Two-Bit said as he slid into the seat across from me.

"I was just asking her a question." I glared at Tim and Two-Bit quickly figured out that he was lying.

"Why don't you go back to your gang instead of bothering us?" Two-Bit asked, locking his jaw. Tim quickly left us alone and we dug into our food.

"Who was that?"

"Tim Shepard. Trust me, you don't want to mess with him." Two-Bit said simply.

"I don't plan on it." We quickly finished our food and Two-Bit threw out our trash afterwards. We exited the restaurant and began walking around, stalling time until I needed to head to the shop.

"Greaser!" I jumped and straightened slightly. I looked over and saw a new black Mustang speeding past us, with some boy flipping us off out the shotgun window.

"Don't mind them." Two-Bit told me. "Idiots." He muttered under his breath.

"You really think I'll let a couple of rich snobs ruin my day?"

"Nah. You're not the type." Two-Bit studied my face a for a minute. _Creepy._ "You should protect yourself from them though. No knowing when they might gang up on ya."

"That's what the fighting lessons are for." I shrugged.

"True, but punching and kicking only goes so far. That's why I always carry one of these." Two-Bit flicked out a switchblade and I stared at it in awe. The blade was slick and unused, and the handle was smooth black with a sterling silver rivet on the end where the blade entered the handle.

"That's pretty cool." I said, watching as Two-Bit smoothly flipped it around in his hands.

"Yeah, it is pretty tuff. I stole it a while back."

"Wait," I look up at Two-Bit and he looks at me confused, "you shop lift?"

"Have to. I don't have a job, and my mom only gives me so much money."

"That's still no excuse to steal things." I said, looking back down at the knife. I couldn't stop staring at it. Two-Bit handed it off to me and I turned it in my hand, admiring the sleekNess of the design.

"You want it?" I glanced up at Two-Bit, not knowing what he meant. "Listen, you need it to protect yourself more than I do. How about you just keep it? I still have a couple more."

"Th-thanks." I stuttered, overwhelmed by his kindness.

"You're welcome." We continued walking and approached Minnigan's Thrift Shop. I had one hand on the door handle when I felt Two-Bit lightly punch my arm.

"I'll see you around." Two-Bit said, gently punching my arm again. I smiled to myself and entered the store.


	28. Lessons

Angelina POV

Jennifer knocked on the Curtis's front door and Ponyboy came to answer it.

"Hey. Everyone is in the backyard." He said glancing at the four of us girls. Jennifer led us around the side of the house to the backyard.

"Hi sweetie." Sodapop said as he gently pecked her on the lips.

"Woah, woah, woah. What's going on here? No kissing during fighting lessons." Dally said with a smirk.

"Soda has a girlfriend?" Two-Bit squealed like a girl. Emma rolled her eyes and Jennifer began laughing.

"Where have you been?" Steve yelled across the yard with a laugh.

Jennifer smiled at Sodapop as he led her to a lawn chair so she could watch the rest of us. The other boys hooted and hollered and Darry shook his head at the ridiculousNess of everything.

I tried to figure out what to do. The greasers returned to lazily hanging out in the back yard, except for Darry who was talking to Dally and pointing out specific portions of the yard. I caught Johnny's eye and he motioned me to come over.

"Long time, no see." He laughed slightly. He began to sit down and I joined him on the grass.

"Yeah. We've all been super busy with work and stuff."

"I'm sure you have been, but its nice for all of us to get together again."

"Yeah." I sighed, not at all looking forward to learning how to fight. I glanced up at my friends and saw Ponyboy and Rachel sitting under a tree talking and Two-Bit was running circles around Emma, trying to annoy her as usual. Jennifer and Sodapop were talking, and I had never seen her so happy or animated. He handed her a small can that could easily fit in her dress pocket. I could easily read the bold, red writing on the side. _Pepper spray._ _That may be helpful._

"All right guys. I think we're about ready to begin." Darry boomed. Johnny got up quickly and then looked at me. He offered his hands to help me stand up and I took them. His hands felt smooth and strong as he pulled me up. We walked over to where the rest of the gang was gathered. I glanced at Jennifer and she gave me a thumbs up.

"Okay. So we're just teaching basic self defense right now, which I'm sure you have some grasp of, but we just want to perfect what you know and teach you guys some new techniques." Darry said. My mind immediately went back to PE freshmen year when we did the self defense unit. _All right, are you supposed to aim for the eyes and then get them in the groin, or was that in the groin and then the eyes?_

"Ok. So first we're just going to teach you an easy way to throw an accurate punch." Dally moved to the center of our semi circle. "So what you want to do is make a fist and hold it by the side of your rib cage so that the back of your hand faces the ground. When you go to punch the sucker who bugged you, you're going to shoot your arm out and twist it so that it hits him like a normal punch, but harder." He demonstrated a few times for us and we all tried it out. My first attempts were choppy and I didn't feel any power in my punch.

"More like this Angelina." Johnny said as he demonstrated it one more time. I could feel my heart speed up as he gently guided my arm through the motion of the punch. I nodded my head and tried again, adding more force each time.

Once we all got the hang of the basic punch, we broke up into specific groups. Emma went off with Two-Bit and began practicing knife techniques. Darry and Dally showed Rachel more ways to fight and how to get more accurate blows. Jennifer stayed seated and watched Sodapop and Steve mock fight, and listened to them tell her how to use her crutches to her advantage. I stayed on the side, not exactly keen on fighting. I wasn't sure where to go, so I just stood taking in the scene.

"Come on Angelina, you still have a lot to learn." Johnny said grabbing my arm and leading me to Two-Bit and Emma.

"Knife fighting?" I asked warily, trying to free myself from Johnny's grip.

"You should at least know how to defend yourself if your punches and kicks don't cut it." He explained. I nodded my head as he handed me a switchblade and began explaining various aspects of the knife. I fiddled with the knife after he explained a few techniques. He stood looking at me, probably waiting for me to try out a move.

"I'm just going to use the restroom. I'll be right back." I handed him back the knife and I walked around to the front to the house and went inside, not even waiting for Johnny to answer. I just couldn't take the thought of fighting someone. I locked myself in the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub. _What am I even doing? Why did I even agree to this in the first place? I could never stab someone, I can barely punch someone without feeling bad._

"Angelina? Are you all right?" I heard Johnny on the other side of the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine." My shaky voice surprised me.

"Angelina, please. All we want to do is help you." _So Johnny heard my voice quiver too._ I got up and opened the door slightly to find Johnny leaning on the doorway.

"I just hate fights." I said in a small voice.

"No one is fighting with you. We just want to help you be able to protect yourself if something bad happens." Johnny explained gently. I nodded my head slowly and tapped my fingers against the doorframe. I looked back up at his expecting expression, his hair hanging in front of his face, blocking his eyes slightly.

"All right." I opened the door a bit more and he gently grabbed my hand. He led me back into the yard and we set up in a more secluded spot. Johnny showed me how to flip out the blade and explained some basic knife maneuvers.

"It's basically an extension of your hand, keep a good grip and you'll do fine." I shakily took the knife and tried out each move. It was pretty easy to do each motion and by the end of our session, I felt a lot better. I glanced back at Jennifer to find her completely focused on Sodapop, hanging on to his every word. _Oh boy._

"We should probably get going." I said quickly to Johnny giving him the knife. He nodded understandingly as I went to collect my friends. I couldn't help but feel bad though, he did spend a lot of time helping me out.

"Hey Angelina?" Johnny called to me. I turned around and saw him jogging over to where I was standing. "Take this. You could probably use it more than I do." He held out the knife we were using to practice.

"What? No, I couldn't take your knife." I said pushing his hand back. "I'm sure I could get another one."

"But not every knife is the same. Plus Two-Bit could just swipe me another." I laughed slightly as he offered the knife to me again. I paused, looking into his eyes. I saw that he wasn't as nervous as the first day we met. _Nice to know he's warming up to us._ I took the knife and studied it briefly.

"Thanks." I put the knife in my pocket and smiled.

"No problem."

"See you around." I said as the girls and I began walking home.

"Yeah. See ya." He said smiling back. As we kept walking, I turned back and saw him still standing there, smiling.


	29. Fanning the flame

Rachel POV

"Thanks again for walking me home." I smiled at Ponyboy as we turned the corner, walking away from the library.

"It's part of the job description." He laughed. I laughed along with him. We paused at the movie theater to see what was playing.

"Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" Ponyboy read off the marquee. He raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"There's no harm in seeing it." I laughed. "It's coming on in ten minutes anyway."

"All right. Let's do it." Ponyboy took his wallet out of his pocket and handed the ticket lady a crinkled dollar bill. She gave us two tickets and we went to get snacks.

"What do you want?" I asked, looking over the candy.

"Maybe just popcorn and a coke."

"That sounds good." I smiled.

We got our food and entered the dark theater. It seemed to be a lot of people in the theater, and we were instantly shushed as we walked down the aisle way. However, even as hard as we tried, we couldn't keep quiet during the movie, it was just too ridiculous. As we exited the theater after the movie the bright sunlight blinded us. I blinked a few times and was able to see better.

"So what did you think of the movie?" I asked Ponyboy.

"I'm not sure. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either." He replied to me.

"Greaser!" Ponyboy and I picked up our pace, ready to break out sprinting if we had to. I had figured out from the greasers that anyone who yelled that was not a friend. As we passed shop windows I saw a green corvette following us through the reflection of the windows, and the socs inside didn't look too nice.

"Hey greaser!"

"On the count of three we're going to run." Ponyboy whispered to me. I nodded slightly, bracing myself for a long sprint. "One, two, THREE." We took off sprinting. I looked back, and the corvette was gaining on us.

"Quick. This way." Ponyboy pulled me into a back alley. "There's a shortcut to get to your house from here." I nodded, breathing heavily.

"Here." I ran into a crevice between two buildings and Ponyboy and I stood there, catching our breaths.

"Do you think we lost them?" Ponyboy panted.

"I hope so." I breathed. We came out of our hiding place and began walking back towards the main road. As we emerged from the alley, we found ourselves face to face with some socs. The boy that stood up front was shortest and cracked his knuckles.

"Well look who showed up here. A greasy, white trash greaser and his trashy girlfriend." Trashy? That's one step too far dude. Before I knew what I was doing, I punched the soc in the jaw.

"That's it!" The soc hollered. He swung at me, but I ducked out of the way. "You little..." He wasn't able to finish his sentence since I had kicked him in the gut. I looked over and saw Ponyboy get slapped across the face. His cheek immediately turned red but he was able to dodge the socs as he ran at him, causing the socs to run right over a trash can. After a few minutes, the socs began walking away, having decided that we weren't worth a fight. I could hear them speed off in their corvette as I rolled over on the ground.

"Rachel! Ponyboy!" I heard two voices call and looked to the left and saw Sodapop running down the sidewalk with Jennifer trailing behind.

"Are you two all right?" Soda asked us as he knelt down to our level to look us over.

"Just a few bumps and bruises." I replied brushing myself off and getting up. I could tell my shoulders would be sore as I stretched out. "What are you doing down here anyway?" I directed my question to Jennifer.

"We had a lunch date, but it ended up lasting most of the afternoon." She explained, looking a bit sheepish. I shook my head and laughed a little at my friend.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I turned around and noticed that Sodapop was still leaning over his brother and looking over all his minor injuries.

"I'm fine Sodapop. Let's just make sure the girls get home safely and we can talk to the rest of the gang." _Talk about what?_

"Yeah, you're right." Sodapop sighed, helping Ponyboy up and returned to Jennifer's side. The four of us walked home in silence.

The second I walked in the door, Jennifer got some ice out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel.

"Put this on your eye." She said simply. I did as I was told and watched her pace around the kitchen and living room.

"If you do that anymore you'll bore a rut into the floor." Sodapop said. Jennifer sighed at sat down on the couch with him.

"Why did this happen again?" She asked no one. Sodapop put his arm over her shoulder and let her nuzzle into him. I saw Ponyboy walk down the hallway and I got up to catch up with him.

"Hey, what was that about the rest of the gang?"

"Well, you know how Steve said those socs are asking for a rumble?"

"A rumble?" I questioned. "Is that what's going to happen next?"

"Yup. It's the only way to stop things down here."

"Alright," I started, thinking about all that's happened, "but if that's what's happening next we'll be ready."

"I'm not sure if that'll happen. Darry would never let you girls come and get beat anymore."

"But we started it." I stated, recalling the first day we experienced the socs' treatment. "And if anything we're going to finish it."

"It's not your fault those socs are such assholes."

"And it's not yours either. This is our fight, and I would feel awful if something happened to you guys because you wanted to help us."

"You girls are as much a part of the gang as we are, and we'll do what it takes to make sure you can walk outside without worrying about being attacked."

"Thanks Ponyboy." I said as I gave him a half hug. _There was no way that I would let those boys take on all our problems._

I went back to the living room and picked up the ice towel again, though most of the ice was half melted.

"Don't worry Jennifer." Sodapop murmured to her. "We'll fix this." _Yeah, all of us._


	30. Nice try

Emma POV

"Thank you. Come again." I watched the last customer of the day leave and I got out from behind the counter to begin cleaning up the store for the night. It was ridiculous how messy things got around here.

As I was resorting some women's shirts, I heard the bells on the door jingle.

"Sorry. We're closed." I called, mentally slapping myself for forgetting to flip the sign.

"Really? The sign says you're open." I knew the voice as one of the assholes who kidnapped me and Jennifer.

"Well we're not, and if you'd excuse me, I have work to do." I walked over to the next rack of clothing and began pulling items that did not belong. The soc grabbed my upper arm and I elbowed him in the stomach. "Watch it buddy."

"No you watch it." He sneered. I grabbed the misplaced items and turned to walk to the check out counter. "You think you're going anywhere?" He asked stepping in front of me.

"Farther than you." I said stepping back. He tried a left hook, but I ducked underneath his swing and leaped behind the counter. They looked around like idiots for me until I hit the cash register.

"Sorry boys. No sale." I say closing back up the register.

"You think you can best us?" The soc with the checkered shirt said walking up to the counter. He tried to grab my hair from around the counter but almost fell across while reaching.

"That's the aim. Also, are you ever going to buy a different shirt?" He looked down at himself and his chest filled with anger. "We do have some nice ones over there if you're interested."

"Are you gonna take that, Chris?" The first socs said pushing him slightly. Chris fell into one of the clothing racks with an alarming clatter.

"Emma? I heard a noise. Is everything all right?" Ethel came out from the back room with fabric and a tape measure in her hands.

"I was just taking care of these idiots." I gestured to the Chris and his two friends. Ethel looked from boy to boy and put her hands on her hips.

"Young men, we are closed. Please leave my store or I will call the police." She said sternly. _Go Ethel!_ The boys looked from one to another and then back to Ethel. "Emma could you pass me the phone?" They started to leave after that, muttering curse words under their breath. Ethel followed them and turned the sign to 'closed' and locked the door after they left.

"Would you like to explain to me what that was all about?" She asked as she began picking up clothing. I knelt next to her and began helping. I couldn't quite make out her tone, she seemed irritated, but also worried.

"My friends and I have been harassed by this gang of socs basically since we moved here." I explained simply.

"I see." She said in a monotone voice. "Is there any way for you guys to stop it?" I shook my head. "Around here the young men usually fight to fix that sort of thing." _Fight?_

"Really?"

"They call it a rumble." _Rumble, weren't Two-Bit and Dally talking about one of those the other day at the vacant lot?_ I lifted the rack back upright and Ethel and I silently began resorting and hanging up clothing as I mulled over what she said. _Those boys are planning a rumble to fix our problems?_

I saw Two-Bit's car in the parking lot, and figured I shouldn't keep him waiting.

"My ride home is here. I'll see you tomorrow." Ethel nodded her head and waved at me.

"Stay safe!" She called as I walked out the door.


	31. Gone too far

Angelina POV

I cleaned off another table, happy that I had been promoted to the afternoon shift at work. I looked at Johnny sitting in the corner booth waiting for my shift to end so he could escort me home. I returned to my station behind the counter just as the door bells jingled.

"Hi how may I help you?" My smile wavered a bit when I realized who my customers were.

"Hello princess." Joe said, smirking. _Not again!_ "We just want two barbecue sandwiches, two large fries, and two blizzards." He said clear and slow, his friends smiling behind him. _Well, at least he isn't drunk this time._

"All right." I wrote down their orders and handed it off to the kitchen staff. I remained in the doorway as their orders were being filled.

"Here you are." I handed off the food, glad things didn't go as badly as I had expected.

"Actually, we want a hamburger and a cheeseburger." The guy on Joe's right said, pushing aside the food on the counter. _Seriously?_

"With extra pickles." I sighed and wrote down their order.

"And onion rings. Don't forget onion rings." The third soc added after I set my pen down. I picked up my pen and wrote onion rings in big lettering on the slip of paper.

"Anything else?" I said, trying to keep a pleasant expression.

"Nope." I returned back to the kitchen and handed off the slip of paper. When I came back with the new food, Joe took the top off his hamburger.

"I said no pickles."

"You said extra pickles." I muttered as I took the pickles off the sandwich with my fingers.

"I'm not eating that. It's tainted now."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" I was getting incredibly annoyed. I had lost my smile a long time ago and they seemed to be enjoying my reactions.

"Never you mind, sweet cheeks." He said winking. _All right. He really needs to cut it out._ Joe took all his food and sat down at one of the tables. I then realized that he forgot to pay.

"Hey, you need to pay buddy." I called as his friends began chowing down.

"Come over here, and I'll give the money to you." _What?_

"I'm sorry but you need to pay at the counter for change."

"Why? You can walk. It's not like you got a busted knee right?" I took a step back as all of them bust out laughing. They quieted down and returned to eating and Joe looked back at me.

"Well?" Joe asked holding up his wallet. I looked over at Johnny, and he eyed the socs. I slowly got out from behind the counter to collect the money.

"All right, $15.38" I said while holding out my hand. He began open his wallet then grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap. "What the heck?" I screamed, struggling against his arm around my chest. He leaned over and tried to kiss me but couldn't with me moving.

"Come on sweetheart, I told you I'd give you a good time." He said twisting me so I couldn't writhe without displacing my arm.

"Hey, leave her alone." I looked over and noticed Johnny walking towards us.

"John..." His hand clamped against my mouth as I tried to free myself again.

"Where did he come from?" Joe said mostly to himself.

"You better let her go." Johnny threatened.

"Why? She ain't your girlfriend." _Well, I'm definitely not yours either._

"How do you know?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd be glad to say that she'd like to date white trash with long greasy hair." His friends laughed, throwing their old burger wrappers at Johnny. He didn't seem affected at all, looking Joe dead in the eye.

"Well, she is." Johnny retorted. _What?!_ "And you better let her go." I held my breath as I stared at Johnny. I could hear the other two greasers muttering to themselves, and my heart pounded inside my chest, waiting for what Joe would do.

"Fine greaser." Joe said, allowing me to hop off his lap. I tried to run to Johnny when Joe grabbed my wrist again. "I'll let her go, if she gives me a kiss." I tried to pull back against his grip but know he's stronger than me. I've got to figure a way put of this. I felt Joe begin to pull me back to him and made a split decision.

"All right." I said calmly, turning towards Joe. He seemed impressed and let go. I kissed the inside my hand, and started leaning towards him. He closed his eyes and I punched him square in the jaw, causing him to nearly fall on the floor. Before his friends to register what happened, I ran to Johnny's protection.

"All right. Pay up." I said from my safe spot behind Johnny. Joe got up dazed and his friends stared. He looked at me and Johnny then threw a twenty dollar bill on the table and stalked out of the restaurant, his friends right on his tail. I picked up the bill and walked back to the counter. _What should I do about the change?_ I set the bill in the register and put the change that I would have given to Joe into the tip jar. Johnny sat back in the booth and looked at me with wide eyes. I blushed after he continued staring and tried to busy myself. _Girlfriend? Is that really what he thinks?_

After my shift ended, Johnny and I began walking back home. The sun was just about to set and the air was crisp and cool.

"Thanks for saving me." I said quietly.

"I'm not sure how much saving I did. Shoot, that kiss-punch combo was genius." He said, smiling at me.

"Thanks. But what was that about me being your girlfriend?" I asked warily.

"Well... I mean..." He started to fiddle with the buttons on his jacket. "I had to help you somehow." He shrugged.

"All right."

"But if you want to be my girlfriend, I wouldn't object." He said quietly. I stopped in my tracks and looked over at him. He had stopped to and looked at me. His eyes were big, full of confidence yet nervously waiting for what I would say.

"That's very sweet of you, Johnny." I said slowly, not really wanting too continue. "But after all that has happened, I'm going to have to think about it." Johnny nodded sadly.

"All right." He sighed. We kept walking and I tired not to looked into his eyes. I feel bad for him, but there's too much on my mind already. Jennifer, the socs, the house. Johnny's been so sweet to me but how can I know everything won't end terrible or we that we'll go home?

We reached the house and I walked up the steps while Johnny hung back. I opened the door and started to walked in. As I began to close the door, I saw Johnny walking away.

"Hey, thanks for walking me home." I called. He turned around and waved. I waved back before I closed the door.


	32. Let's finish this

Darry POV

Just as I finished putting away the dishes from dinner, Johnny rushed into the house. His eyes were wide and he huffed from running.

"Woah there, slow down. Is everything all right?"

"Angelina got harassed by the socs again." He said breathlessly.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah she's fine, but this isn't safe Darry. Not for the girls, not for us." He paused, catching his breath again. "We have to put a stop to this."

"Yeah, and Ponyboy and Rachel got attacked as well." Sodapop added.

"When did that happen?" I asked worriedly. _Why am I the last person to know this?_

"Well, Rachel and Ponyboy got attacked the day Jennifer and I had our date." I mentally counted the days, that was about a week ago.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Ponyboy told me not to. He didn't want you to worry."

"You both know I'm going to worry either way." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "What about Angelina? When did her incident happen?"

"Today." Johnny replied.

"All right, did you see it happen?" Johnny nodded his head quickly. "How bad?"

"At first they just gave her a hard time, but then one socs forced her on his lap. Things would have gotten nasty real quick if I wasn't there."

"Good thing you were there." I said simply.

I hear the door open and Ponyboy walked in with Rachel.

"So you didn't want me to worry?"

"What?" Ponyboy asked looking from me to Sodapop.

"About you two getting jumped last week. And now the socs are going too far." I looked over at Rachel. "But why don't you take Rachel back to her place first."

"Why?" She asked stepping away from the door.

Just as I was about to answer Rachel, Dally came crashing though the house, nearly knocking her and Ponyboy over. His shirt was torn and his knuckles had dried blood. "Rumble next Saturday. Got caught up with some socs and they challenged us to a rumble." He gasped.

"That's why." I sighed, gesturing towards a kitchen chair for her to sit down.

"Rumble?" Rachel questioned.

"It's basically a huge fight between two parties of opposing view points." I explained.

"How can we help?" Rachel immediately asked.

"We?" Dally asked skeptical.

"You girls should stay home. We don't want anyone hurt." I said.

"This is stemming from our problems. I want to do something."

"I'm not going to let you fight and that's final." I realized that I sounded exactly like my mother.

"Why?" Rachel pouted.

"Your sisters are going to worry and what would they say when we told them that we let you fight with a bunch of big burly guys?"

"I'm not related to them." Rachel said defiantly.

"That's not the point. Your _friends_ would still be mad at us if we let anything dangerous happen to you."

"But I wouldn't be alone." She argued standing up. "You guys will be there and I'm sure Emma would come."

"No!" I said raising my voice slightly. "This is too dangerous."

"Ugh! Fine!" Rachel sighed, sitting down and throwing her hands up in defeat.

"You should probably head home soon. I don't want your friends to worry." I said.

"All right." She grumbled standing up.

"So when is this actually going to happen?" Sodapop asked after Rachel and Ponyboy left.

"Six." Dally said simply.


	33. It begins

Rachel POV

"Bye! Have a good day at work!" I called after Angelina as she ran out of the house. Angelina had all ready told me that she was working extra hours to cover for one of her coworkers and I figured it was perfect time to escape to be a part of the rumble. But I couldn't show up to the Curtis's house, so I just had to show up to the vacant lot at six.

"Rachel, why are you dressed like that?" Emma walked into the family room and I looked down at my tank top and shorts.

"Because I'm going to be a part of tonight's rumble." I said putting my hair up in a ponytail.

"Tonight's what?"

"Rumble. You know, a huge fight that's going to settle our problems once and for all." Emma merely stared at me.

"And you really think its a good idea to go alone?" She probably thought I've lost my mind.

"I'm not going alone, you're going with me."

"I'm doing what now?"

"Coming with me to the rumble. Don't you want to kick those socs' asses?"

"Yeah, but Angelina is going to murder both of us if she finds out we step anywhere near the rumble."

"Angelina won't be there."

"I still don't think its a good idea..." Emma trailed off.

"Well, you're coming with me whether or not you like the idea." Emma sighed.

"Well, if we're going to sneak out, want to make it official and go through a window?" I laughed and lightly punched Emma.

"No but you better change."

"Gladly. I can't stand wearing this dress." She said getting up and walking to our room. She returned in her basketball shorts that she wears to bed and one of Two-Bit's Mickey shirts.

"I don't know why I have this. Don't ask." Emma said while gesturing to her shirt. I simply nodded and glanced up at the clock.

"We should start heading over to the lot." I said while pulling on a jacket.

We headed out to the lot, making sure to keep an eye out for socs. It would definitely be counterproductive to get jumped on our way to a rumble. We safely made it to the lot and tried to sneak in behind the gang. However, Two-Bit ruined that intention.

"Hey Nestor! Hey Raye of sunshine!" It was obvious that Two-Bit had one too many to drink.

"Shut it Keith." Emma hissed. However it was too late, and Darry had noticed us.

"What are you doing here?" He roared. Emma and I took a step back. "You can't be here. What if you get hurt?"

"It's too late now. And besides, we could always use a couple more good fighters." Steve said while eying us up and down. "I know Rachel can pack a punch." I smiled proudly and mouthed thank you to him.

Before Darry had a chance to respond, we could hear the socs driving up, hooting and hollering so loud the whole town could hear. The gang instantly changed their attitudes and turned rough and hardened. They grouped together and tried to look as menacing as possible. Emma and I found our place between Two-Bit and Darry. _We've totally got this._


	34. It ends

Emma POV

I watched as the socs approached us, and I quickly realized that we were about as evenly numbered as we could get.

"You girls stay close to one of us and yell if you're in trouble." Darry whispered. I nodded my head, trying to figure out who would be my best bet to try to fight. I set my eyes on a smaller boy with shifty eyes. He looked about fourteen, his shirt unbuttoned and his hair combed back. The second I locked eyes with him, the he cracked his knuckles and tried to look menacing. _That's the squirt who got Rachel._ I glared at him as the rest of the socs lined up.

No words were exchanged, we all stared at each other. John threw the first punch at Darry, and with a loud, guttural yell coming from both sides, the rumble began. Fighting broke out all around me as the lines broke into a huge mob. The small soc charged at me and head butted me in the stomach. I fell backwards, completely breathless. I scrambled up and landed a punch on his jaw. That stunned him long enough for me to swiftly kick him in the balls. He fell to the ground, grinding his teeth in pain. I kicked him a few times in the stomach before I let him scramble away.

Rachel was next to me wrestling a soc with Ponyboy, and from the looks of it, they were winning. Ponyboy had a wide grass stain on his shirt and his knees were stained brown and green from the ground. He was a lot stronger than I would expect from a fifteen year old, and his punches were rather accurate.

Darry was taking on three socs at once, and I had no idea how he managed that. One slightly smaller soc he held under his left arm while he fended of the other guys. I felt strong rough hands clamp on my shoulder and swing me around. Whoever it was let go and l swung into Darry's back.

"You okay?" He looked back at me briefly and I nodded. He returned to fighting off some socs and I scrambled out of a way. I looked over at Steve on the ground holding a soc's head in a pile of dirt. Steve lifted the dude's head up, his face practically black from the soil and leaving an indent in the pile. He smashed the soc's head back into the dirt pile as another soc charged at him.

Sodapop bounced around the mob, fighting with any soc he that crossed him. He never stayed long with any one soc, giving him a few quick one-two punch to the head or chest and then running to the next. As he, ran he laughed, looking like he was having a ball. He eventually ran into John and his grin vanished. John glared at Sodapop and Sodapop returned it with a hard left hook.

I glanced back at Rachel who was off the ground facing the little squirt. She looked out of breath as she dodged punches, her chest heaving slightly. She jumped sideways to avoid a kick and turned right around to nail him right in the crotch. _That guy was not having a good day._ He crawled away slightly, avoiding any greasers that came by him. I did a ninja roll across the lot as a giant soc charged at me, quickly getting back up to avoid being trampled.

I small light caught my eye and I looked over at the soc with too much jewlery fighting Johnny, I believe his name was Joe. I watched as they locked in hand to hand combat. His eyes were blazing with revenge and Johnny seemed so small to him. I gasped in horror when Joe pulled out a knife, tinted red from previous use. He bounced on his toes and lunged, cutting Johnny under his right arm. Before Johnny could react, Dally sprung out of nowhere and tackled Joe. Joe barely had the chance to get back up when Dally began violently punching the snot out of him. Joe was attempting to fight back on the ground with his knife, but Dally was impervious to the pain. I noticed a tear fall down Joe's face as Dally got up and staggered backwards. I saw Dally grip his side, some red dripping out from under his hand, but he quickly return to fighting.

Two-Bit and Chris were fighting behind me, and from the looks of it, Two-Bit had the upper hand. Two-Bit smoothly navigated his blade around Chris and nailed him on his left arm. Not even dazed, Chris slapped the blade from Two-Bits hand and knocked him over the head. Two-Bit staggered and Chris pinned him to the ground, jabbing him in the ribs and smacking him over the head.

Before I could think I was charging at Chris and tackled him off of Two-Bit. We rolled hard on the lot and somehow I ended up underneath him. He tried to slap me but he was too cross eyed to make a solid hit. I clawed at his face and ripped his shirt as I heard everyone shouting around me. Chris managed to get me right across my left eye right before he got off of me and I covered my head as I heard a stampede of feet coming toward me. I opened my eyes and watched as all the socs started running away to their cars, some face planting on the way.

"Emma get up! We won!" From out of nowhere Two-Bit suddenly stood above me. He reached down and yanked me up from the ground by my wrist.

"Ouch, you idiot." I stumbled forward slightly as he steadied me.

"Sorry." I looked around and watched as the rest of the greasers picked themselves up off the ground. Most of them looked all right, but Dally was barely conscious and his clothes were stained with blood.

"You all right?" Darry helped Ponyboy up and brushed him off.

"I'm fine Darry. Honestly." We made our way over to Dally, and stood around him, debating what to do.

"We need to get him home." Darry said as he squatted, looking Dally over.

"Well, Buck's is on the other side of town, and our house is too far away for him to walk all the way over." Sodapop thought out loud.

"Hey!" Two-Bit screamed, with a sudden epiphany. "Why don't we crash at the girls place?"

"Shut it you moron!" I hissed and shoved him to the ground. I looked over at Rachel, whose face had gone pale. I could almost hear what she was thinking, _Angelina's gonna kill us._

"I don't think we have a choice, we need to get Dally somewhere safe so we can stop all this bleeding." Darry reasoned as he and Sodapop hoisted Dally up and began dragging him in the direction of our house. I watched Two-Bit stumble in a drunken stupor and sighed as I offered him my arm for support.

We walked incredibly slowly to the house due to Dally, but everyone held their heads high.

"We beat them." Two-Bit screamed, tripping over his own two feet. _We sure did._


	35. Aftermath

Angelina POV

"Hey, my shift's done." I said putting the last of the bills in the register. "Ready to go home?" Jennifer looked up at me from her quarter full milkshake and nodded sleepily. She had to work a double shift at Minnigan's and then decided to keep me company during my shift at Dairy Queen.

"We should call one of the boys." She said as she got up.

"It'll be fine. We live close enough it shouldn't be a big deal." I brought her crutches over from the corner of the room.

"Yeah, but you can run if we're in trouble." She shook her bad leg for emphasis. "I'll get pounded into a pulp."

"I know, but I have that switchblade, remember? And you still have your pepper spray." I feel the smooth metal of the casing inside my dress pocket.

"Yeah, but I haven't used the spray. I might just end up spraying myself." I slightly rolled my eyes as I opened the door.

"Let's just hurry up and get home."

The walk was thankfully uneventful but when we got to our house, something wasn't right. The first thing we noticed were voices inside the door.

"Jennifer?" I ask stepping away from the front stoop.

"Wait, Angelina. Listen closer." Jennifer said grabbing my arm. "It's the greasers." I listened again and was able to pick out Darry and Steve's voices. We entered the house and stopped short when we saw everyone. The whole gang was sprawled in our living room, with red staining their skin and clothes. Steve was sprawled out on the floor in front of the door. Sodapop was on the couch and Ponyboy was sitting near his feet. Darry was sitting in one of our arm chairs, nursing a cut on his hand. Dally was lying in the middle of the floor and Johnny was sitting close to the doorway to the hall. Rachel sat in the other arm chair, slightly wincing in pain as she turned to look at us. Her eyes seemed as wide as ping pong balls and she bit her lip, nervously looking at us. Emma was sitting against the half wall and Two-Bit was lying on the floor with his head in Emma's lap. When she looked up at me, her face was completely confused as to why he was doing that.

"What happened?!" I shouted, taking in the multitude of injuries.

"We won!" Emma said tired, almost breathless. I nodded my head, taking in her black eye and bruises.

"Won what?" I asked, perplexed.

"The rumble." Dally slurred as if it were the most obvious thing on earth. I couldn't tell if he was drunk, in a lot of pain, or both.

"Rumble?" I ask, looking over at Rachel who sunk into her chair.

"Is she all right?" Ponyboy asked and pointed at Jennifer. I looked next to me and saw her white as a sheet and swaying. I put my arms out just in time to catch her as she fainted. I quickly but gingerly lowered her to the ground and stuck a pillow under her feet to elevate her legs. _Great, everyone is in our house with gashes and bruises and who knows what else and now Jennifer has fainted!_

"I'm going to get out the first aid kit." I say taking a mental count of everything I'll need to grab. "Watch Jennifer for a bit, all right?" Sodapop, Rachel, and Emma nodded and I left the room. I stepped over the boys and ran to our bathroom to grab the small plastic box, and then ran to the kitchen to get ice and glasses of water. When I returned to our living room, Jennifer was waking up.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked her as I dropped to my knees.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She replied groggily. She began to sit up but immediately looked pale again.

"Why don't you lay down on the couch." I helped her stand up and walked her over to the couch. I sat her down and she laid sideways, her head resting slightly on Sodapop's leg. He leaned over her ear and whispered something that made her smile. He gently placed his hand on her head and takes to running his fingers through her hair as she closed her eyes.

Once Jennifer was settled, I took a better look around the room. Dally was definitely the most beat up with a long cut by his mouth, two black eyes, and a multitude of cuts all over his body. However, I figured I couldn't do this alone so I went to Darry first. He only had bruises and a cut on his right hand right under his knuckles. I took out a clean fabric sheet and walked over to him. It looked like he was trying to stop the bleeding but was only making it worse.

"Here, let me wrap that for you." I said as I took his hand in my own. Darry hesitated for a moment, but then allowed me to wrap it.

"Thanks." He said gratefully.

"You're welcome." I finished the wrap and tied a tight knot in the fabric so it wouldn't slip. "Now please help me with everyone else." I said while handing him bandages and rubbing alcohol.

"All right, but I think we both should help Dally first." I nodded my head as we both walked over to Dally and knelt down.

"Darrell?" Dally slurred. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Yep, he was drunk.

"Just stay still, Dally." He replied while rummaging through the first aid kit. "I have to stitch up this cut on his mouth." Darry said to me when he came up with a needle and thread.

"Is that even sanitary?" I asked while wiping the long cut with rubbing alcohol, trying not to get any in his mouth. As I wiped the blood off his face, I could feel his jaw tense up when I went over the cut.

"I've done it for him and the others plenty of times." I simply nodded my head while cleaning Dally's other cuts. As I put a bandage on a deep cut on his forearm I noticed a tear in his shirt under his leather jacket. I move away the flaps and see his whole shirt had streaks of blood on it. _Oh great._

"Hey, Darry? Would you finish up Dally while I help someone else?" He leaned over and bit off the thread on Dally's stitch.

"Sure. Why don't you head over to Two-Bit? He got whomped right in the head by one of the bigger Socs." I got up as Darry cut Dally's shirt down the front. _Glad I didn't have to do that._

I crawled over to Two-Bit and the first thing that I noticed was a small but deep cut on his eyebrow. He also had a nice bump on his forehead that was beginning to bruise. He seemed to notice me come over and tried to grab something from the supplies I carried.

"Here, let me help you." I put some ice in a washcloth and placed it on his forehead. Then I rubbed some alcohol onto his cut and debated whether to stitch it or just put a bandaid on it. I figured the bandaid would be less painful for the both of us.

"Thanks Mom." He said as I finished up.

I smiled. "You're very welcome Two-Bit."

I turned to assess Sodapop, but Jennifer, looking a lot better than earlier, was one step ahead of me. I suppose she got some first aid stuff from Darry and had all ready begun bandaging Sodapop's worst injuries. Once she finished up, she gently kissed some of his visible bumps and bruises. _Oh dear._ She looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back, trying to telepathically tell her not to get carried away.

I saw Ponyboy kneeling by the armchair and talking quietly and giggling with Rachel as they were tending to each other's wounds. Looked like they only got bumps and minor cuts. By this time, Darry had finished with Dally and had moved on to Steve, who looked like he had a broken nose and bite marks on his hands. Two-Bit had put a bandaid on the single cut Emma had recieved from the fight and had reverted to telling jokes in an attempt to make her laugh.

 _All that's left is Johnny._ I looked back toward Dally and saw that he was completely distracted by retelling the "best" parts of the rumble, so I made my way over to Johnny. I sat next to him and gently touched left his arm. He looked over at me and smiled so wide it beamed. He lifted up his arm and rested it around me.

"Johnny, are you..." I trailed of after seeing his black eye.

"I'm fine, Ang." I shook my head sideways. "I've gotten worse." I smiled slightly, looking at his scar.

"I know, but at least put some ice on it. Please?" I handed him a washcloth filled with ice and he took it from me. I noticed him flinch slightly as he raised his arm to his eye, and realized there was blood staining the sleeve of his jacket.

"Johnny, let me see your arm." I commanded, feeling like a mother. He put down the ice and obediently took off his jacket, revealing a long shallow cut on his upper arm. "Just a minute." I quickly got back up to grab two clothes to clean and wrap the cut.

"Better?" I asked as I finished wrapping the gauze and tied it off.

"Much." He responded while embracing me in a one armed hug. I let my head drop onto his shoulder and stayed there as Dally took the floor.

"And man that little sissy was lying on the ground crying. He thought he was so tough, but I didn't even let him hit me once. Sure good to show those punks whose boss." I realized that there was no use in trying to follow Dally's story. He was too juiced up to make a bit of sense anyway, but I smiled and laughed when the rest of the gang did.

I looked over to Jennifer, and she was nodding off in Sodapop's lap.

"I'll be right back." I whispered to Johnny. He smiled and nodded.

"Jennifer, let's get you to bed." I said quietly. I gently pried her out of Soda's embrace as she bobbed her head sleepily.

"I'll carry her, Angelina. Why don't you go be with Johnny?" I looked at Sodapop, not quite sure whether or not to let him. But before I could say no, he had lifted her off the couch and was making his way down the hallway. I sighed and returned to Johnny. He replaced his arm around me and I leaned into him slightly.

"Those socs ain't going to bother you no more." He whispered to me. I nodded my head and smiled at him. He turned towards me and I looked up at him. He moved some of my hair away from my face and slowly inched closer to me, brushing the tip of his nose against mine. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips brushed together. He backed away for a second, but then kissed me again. We both rested our foreheads against each other, enjoying the moment and forgetting the fact that we were in a room full of people.

"Looks like sparks are still flying after the rumble." Two-Bit yelled. I could tell everyone was looking at us and I tried to hide my face behind Johnny. _Oh great._

"What's going on here?" Sodapop asked confused as he walked back into the room. I lifted my head from Johnny's neck and felt his arm slip off my shoulder.

"Nothing." I said quickly, knowing I my face was bright red.

"All right then." Sodapop said, while eyeing me and Johnny.

"That was not nothing." Two-Bit yelled, he then turned to Sodapop. "Looks like Miss Angelina here has taken a liking to our Johnny-cake."

"Cut it out." Johnny said, obviously embarassed and irritated. I heard one of the greasers whistle lightly and the rest laughed after it.

"I'm going to go get more ice." I said quickly as I try to exit from the room.

"For what? Your cheeks?" I could tell it was Two-Bit trying to keep up with the joke. _But that will end soon enough._

"No. To throw at your big head." I said without turning around.

"Woah, need some ice for that burn?" Emma asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and retrieved some more ice from the freezer. I wrapped some in two towels and carried them in my left hand while I took a handful in my right. When I re-entered the family room, I threw the ice cubes at Two-Bit and nailed him right at his neck. I smiled as some slipped down his shirt and laughed with everyone else as he squirmed from the cold to get the ice out of his shirt. I handed him a towel, which he accepted quietly, and gave the other to Dally. It looked like the alcohol was wearing off because he took the towel without a grunt.

"I'm going to head up to bed." I said through a yawn. "If you want to stay here that's fine though." I exited the living room again and make my way to the hallway. As I turned the corner, I noticed Johnny following me out of the corner of my eye. I paused in front of the mine and Jennifer's door as he caught up.

"Hey. Sorry about the guys." Johnny said simply. I nodded my head and begin turn to the door knob.

"Wait." Johnny said while putting his hand over mine on the door. I looked at him confused as he held my hands in his. "Be my girlfriend?" I started to open my mouth but paused, not knowing what to say. _Girlfriend?_ I looked down at our hands and felt Johnny pull me in and wrap his arms around my back. He held me there for a while, his arms safe and strong. _Am I ready?_ His arms dropped down to my waist and he leaned back. I searched his chocolate brown eyes, seeing only sincerity and love.

"I would love to." I said quietly. He smiled and lifted one of his hands behind my neck and pulled me close until our lips locked. I smiled as he pulled away, and gave him a peck on the cheek before slipping into the bedroom. As I closed the door, a bunch of thoughts hit me at once.

"Hey, are you awake?"

"I am now." Jennifer grumbled. "What do you want?" she sat up and turned on the lamp.

"Johnny and I kissed."

"That's great." She said, about to turn the lamp off.

"And now we're an official couple."

"What?!"

"I am Johnny's girlfriend." I repeated, enunciating every word.

"I'm so happy for you." Jennifer replied, waking up a little bit more. I was trying to seem excited, but Jennifer saw straight through to my worries. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I mean I really like Johnny, but what's going to happen when we leave? I'll break his heart."

"And you don't think I'm going to have that problem with Sodapop?"

"Yeah, but Johnny is different from Sodapop. He doesn't have a loving family, and he's not the charming charismatic dude that Soda is."

"I know. I know." Jennifer sighed.

"Also," I began, my breath blowing away the hair that hung in front of my face, "what just happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did everyone end up so beat up and in our house? Especially Rachel and Emma. What were they doing in the middle of a rumble? And I still don't get how that solves anything. How can we be sure that those socs aren't going to come back?" I plopped down on my bed, feeling crushed by the weight of everything going on.

"Ang?"

"What are we supposed to do?" I rubbed my eyes.

"Calm down Angelina. I don't know what we're going to do. I guess we're just going to take what life throws at us."

"Yeah, because we don't do that all ready." I muttered. I shot Jennifer a weak smile, but I just felt so sick of being stuck in our rut. I knew immediately she saw through my façade.

"I'm really trying to figure out what happened and how we can fix this, but this kind of stuff takes time." Jennifer paused as I yawned loudly. "All right, let's just go to bed. We can talk about is in the morning." I slid under the covers, not even bothering to change out of my work clothes, and Jennifer turned out the light. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.


	36. Picnic

Johnny POV

"Come on, Dal. We're going to be late." I sighed as Dally took his time walking around the grocery store, looking at the dry, crumbly cookies, the under ripe fruit, and the overpriced ice cream. We were supposed to be down at the lot for a picnic that the girls planned, and it was our job to bring dessert. Finally, I took a box of chocolate chip cookies and a box of sugar cookies and walked over to the cashier.

"That'll be $2.22." He said, clearly bored. I handed him two dollar bills and a shiny quarter, and he gave me back three dull pennies. I shoved the money in my pocket and began walking down the street. _Dally'll follow soon enough._

As I got to the lot, most of the gang was already there. Ponyboy and Rachel were reading under a tree, engrossed in the new world the book described. Steve and Two-Bit were tossing a football around with Emma. It looked like a game of monkey in the middle and Emma was the monkey. Jennifer and Sodapop were sitting in the grass together, lost in their own little world. I looked over at Darry and Angelina setting food on the giant picnic blanket.

I snuck up behind Angelina and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey." She said happily as I kissed her temple.

"I brought some cookies from the store." I set down the shopping bag and watched as Angelina arranged the cookies on a plate, immediately making them look more appetizing.

"Where's Dally?" Darry asked me.

"I left him at the store, he should be here anytime now."

"Key words any time." Darry laughed. His laugh was loud, booming, and rare. He hasn't laughed much since his parents died.

Shortly afterward, Dally arrived with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Did you guys start the party without me?"

"We would never start without you." I said, laughing. Angelina laughed as I put my arm around her.

"Lunch is ready!" She called to everyone. Soda helped Jennifer up and they walked over to the picnic blanket hand in hand. It was the first time I had seen Jennifer without her crutches in a long time. Everyone else trailed behind them.

We all helped ourselves to the food and talked about unimportant things. Sodapop and Steve talked about the gas station. Two-Bit mentioned swiping another switchblade and Dally just focused on food.

"So are you two ready for school?" Darry asked Ponyboy and Rachel. Ponyboy rolled his eyes and grabbed another sandwich that Angelina made. Rachel laughed nervously and glanced at Jennifer.

"We still have yet to register her." Angelina spoke up quietly, taking a sip of her lemonade.

"Aren't you girls planning to stay here?" Soda asked. The girls looked at each other before Jennifer finally answered.

"As of right now, we're not sure." She said, her voice giving no hints as to what she thought. _What's that supposed to mean?_ Darry raised his eyebrows and then furrowed them, not sure what to say. We continued eating in silence, and I could see Sodapop staring at Jennifer, wondering the same thing I did. _What happens if the girls decide to leave?_

We soon finished the meal, and the girls began putting away the food. Darry took the football and we began tossing it around. At first the girls watched, with Emma heckling Two-Bit whenever he dropped the ball, but soon she joined in along with Angelina and Rachel. Jennifer waved them on, looking perfectly content to sit on the picnic blanket and watch us while polishing her nails.

We split off into teams with Darry, Rachel, Angelina, Ponyboy, and me on one side and Two-Bit, Emma, Steve, Sodapop, and Dally on the other. As we walked to our sides I tried to recall the last time we had even teams. _It's been so long, this will be interesting._

"All right," Darry boomed across the field to the other team, "since we have some company, we will be playing touch football, no tackling." He eyed all of us to be sure we got the point, but Dally seemed the most upset of all the boys. We lined up, even though we knew everything would turn to organized shit with the ball flying in every direction.

At one point Rachel had the ball and tossed it over to Angelina. Angelina caught it and began to run towards the end zone. Dally ran after her and was about to tackle her when she swerved slightly to avoid him. However, she tripped over his foot and somersaulted, landing flat on her back. We all paused and crowded around Angelina, except for Dally who now had possession of the ball and was running towards the end zone.

"Angelina?!" Jennifer called, beginning to get up. I heard Angelina laughing and the guys let me through. She had a wide grin on her face and her shoulders were bouncing. I helped her up and she waved to Jennifer, indicating that she was fine.

"Hey, Dallas! Nice job nearly killing the best receiver, we could've really used her on our team during half time trade offs." Two-Bit called.

"Oh just be quiet." Emma scolded while elbowing Two-Bit.

I looked over at Angelina, wondering if she'd go over and rest by Jennifer but she walked right up to Dally and took the ball from his hands, as if nothing happened.

We resumed playing, and Angelina threw the ball to Ponyboy. However, Sodapop intercepted the ball and began running for a touchdown. He threw the ball down in the end zone and began obnoxiously dancing. I heard Jennifer's clapping stop, probably because she was so disturbed by her boyfriend's dancing.

Sodapop ran over to Jennifer, who had just begun painting her toenails and lifted her bridal style and began spinning around.

"What the hell are you doing? Put me down!" She squealed.

"Not until you give me a congratulatory kiss." Jennifer quickly kissed him and he set her down.

"Now go back to the game, babe." She said shooing him away.

At half time, Darry traded me and Ponyboy for Dally and Emma. So we were essentially playing guys against girls.

By the time Jennifer announced that the game was over, Darry's team won 23 to 10. We all dispersed, lounging around in the grass and talking as we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.


	37. Liar

Jennifer POV

I tried to focus on my work as my thoughts drifted between thinking about the girls, my family, and the gang. I pictured my brother, remembering all the fun times we were planning for the summer, and now it's almost over.

"Are you all right, Jennifer?" Ethel appeared behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah. I just miss my brother." I sighed. My eyes went huge as soon as I realized what I said.

"I thought you only had a sister." _Shit_. She studied my face. "You're not from around here." She said slowly.

"Yeah. I'm from Chicago." I said, my voice starting to stutter. _Double shit_.

"No you're not."

"Of course I am." I said, trying to control my voice. "Born and raised in the Motor City all my life."

"Chicago is the Windy City dearie." _TRIPLE SHIT_.

"All right fine." I sighed, knowing I was caught in my lie.

"It's alright Jennifer. I knew the moment you stepped into my store." I could almost see the color of my face drain as she said that.

"Am I really that bad at lying?" I asked, my voice shaking. _If Ethel knew what about the boys? What about Sodapop?_

"No."

"Then, what do you know?"

"You're Jennifer Wallace. Born on July 18 in 1997. You do not have abusive parents and Angelina is not your sister. While you like to think of Angelina as your sister, you do have a younger brother and very caring parents. "

"H-How did you know that?"

"Because I brought you here."

"You did what?" I was completely overwhelmed and sat down on a stool.

"You said you wished you lived in the sixties, so here you are."

"But... Why?" My mind had stopped functioning as Ethel stood there staring at me.

"Because I thought you'd be happier here." I took a moment to digest this.

"So let me get this straight, you, a random stranger, teleported a group of teenaged girls away from their family and friends because you thought we would be happier here?" Ethel nodded her head. I sighed in exasperation. _I could have talked to her this whole time and she would have helped me?!_

"You are happy here though." Ethel said, more as a statement that a question. I had to think of how to respond.

"I'm not sure happy would be the word, more like we just got used to our surroundings. I mean, Angelina never wanted to be here from the start." I rubbed my forehead.

"But she's grown to this place quite well. I knew her and Johnny would get close." I nodded, thinking about how happy she is now that she and Johnny were together.

"But," I thought again, "Rachel is going to have to start school here. She's a smart girl and will know things from the future that people of this time can only dream about."

"She'll pull through. You said yourself, people dream of the 21st century and all the things they will have. They will think she's just dreaming too."

"What about me? I had plans for my future, and because of sexism, I won't be able to achieve them in this time."

"You will be just fine. There are plenty of things you can do in this time that your parents would have never let you do. Like get a cosmetology license." I smiled at the thought of essentially being a beauty guru, something my parents definitely would have never let me do. "And besides, you will eventually just want to be a stay at home mom no matter what time era you're in, so does it completely matter what job you have until then?"

I was gobsmacked as my mind attempted to think past her arguments. I tried to think of something for Emma but I couldn't. She is completely neutral about everything, and her feelings about living in the sixties pretty much matched living in our own time, indifferent.

"Okay, well even if all that is true, what about going home? We all miss our families."

"I can send you girls home, but if some of you stay and some of you go, you'll never see each other again."

"All right." I sighed, aware of the tough choices ahead of me. "We'll come back in a week with our final decision."


	38. Back to the future?

Jennifer POV

"Wait, why are we going to Ethel's again?" Angelina asked me.

"Because she can transport us back to our time." I explained, slightly irritated.

"Are you sure that cabinet door didn't hit you too hard in the head this morning?" Angelina asked me.

"I'm sure Angelina." I said as I continued walking.

"So how did you find this out?" Rachel asked me.

"Well, I was thinking about my brother and how much I missed him, and Ethel asked me what was wrong. I told her that I missed my brother, and essentially she unraveled each and every one of our lies and told me the truth of what was going on. Then she said that she could transport us back." I looked at Angelina, and she was zoned out and smiling slightly, most likely thinking about going home and being back with her family.

I could help but agree with Ang's happiness of seeing our families again. _I mean, if I am to be honest with myself, a part of me had been missing ever since we came to the sixties: the love of my family. However, I found new love that I'm sure my parents would agree with. Sodapop is just the sweetest guy I've ever met and was everything that my parents told me to look for, minus the completed education, of course. But I'm sure they can overlook that since I'm so in love with him. And Chris will just love Soda, they will get along perfectly._ As my mind drifted in the perfect daydream of what will happen, reality came storming in. _Wait a minute, if I go home, Sodapop can't come with me. I almost stopped in my tracks and ran back to our house. What am I supposed to do? I could go home and be with my family, but I would have to leave Sodapop and break his heart. But if I stayed here, I may never see my family again. Why must this be so hard?_

* * *

Emma POV

For whatever reason, the whole Ethel story that Jennifer told all of us didn't surprise me. She was an odd woman and always knew a bit too much about us for my taste, especially since I never really talked to her other than to ask for my assignments for the day. I've always assumed that Jennifer told Ethel all those random things about us, but I guess not.

"Come on." Jennifer said as she put her hand on the doorknob to the shop.

"I don't think she's open." Angelina said as she peeked through the window and observed the dark room.

"She's here." Jennifer said simply as she opened the door easily and entered the store. "Ethel?" She called out.

"Back here ladies." She called back from the alteration room. _How did she know that Jennifer wasn't alone?_ We walked back to the room and I quickly noticed that she had five chairs already waiting for us. _She's been expecting us._ Ethel's chair was separated with the rest angled slight toward hers. She gestured to the chairs and we all took our seats. Jennifer sat directly next to Ethel's chair and I took the seat next to her. Angelina sat on the end and Rachel sat between us. She left and we sat in silence.

I looked around the room I noticed t-shirts and shorts hanging up around the room that looked nothing like what normally hung in the room. I spotted a sweater that nearly made me gag when I saw it. _That's the monstrosity by brother gave to me as a cruel joke a few Christmas' ago. I'd thought I had finally forgotten about that ugly thing. But how could I forget my brother? That moron has practically scarred me with everything that's happened. From trying to throw me off the balcony to nearly killing me every time I got in the car with him. Still, if I stayed I'd have that with Two-Bit constantly hopping around me. Plus I'd never get to eat my moms special cheesecake. Then again, I'm sure I could find that recipe and get Ang or Jennifer to make it. I suppose I could survive staying here._

Ethel still hadn't returned so I continued to look around and noticed t-shirts with band references and styles that would be insane to wear in this period. These clothes are from our decade. Ethel came back into the room with our favorite snacks and drinks on a tray and put them down for us to take.

"Ethel, why do you have clothing styles from the twenty first century?"

"They're for you to change into if you decide to leave."

* * *

Rachel POV

 _Ummm what?_ I half choked on the cookie in my mouth. _To change into? Leave? Is she serious?_

"I'm sorry?" Angelina leaned forward, not quite believing what she heard.

"If you guys want to go back to your time, I have clothes for you to wear." Ethel repeated herself.

"Wait, so you can take us home?" She is serious. _I guess Jennifer wasn't so insane after all_.

"If you would like." Ethel shrugged. Angelina looked ecstatic at the thought of going home. "But you all have to come to an agreement about whether or not to go."

I thought about want Ethel just said. _As much as I have enjoyed my time in the sixties, I definitely miss my parents, sisters, dog, really just about everything from my time. Even though I made many friends here, I also made some enemies, not that they matter of course. Now with them taken care of it's just us, the Curtis's, and the rest of the gang. I vaguely heard Ethel and Jennifer talking more, but I wasn't focused on their conversation. I'm just not sure if I could live in the sixties permanently. As much as this is an awesome place to visit, with authentic sixties everything, I miss too much from home._

* * *

Angelina POV

_Finally! The chance I have been waiting for ever since I found myself stuck in the sixties. The thought of going home was tantalizing, and it was so close. As Ethel finished describing how everything happened, I tried not to stand up right away and grab a comfortable pair of jeans for the trip back home. If everyone agreed that they wanted to go home, that is. I'm sure Jennifer will be thinking of Sodapop, why wouldn't she? As I thought of Jennifer with Sodapop, my mind veered to me with Johnny. What about Johnny? When I go home, he will have nothing. Then again, he was doing just fine before he met me. Even as I tried to convince myself everything would be fine, I couldn't help but worry about it. I really have to admit, one of the few things I will miss is definitely going to be Johnny. But as interesting as our experience was, I can't wait to get home to my parents and my cat._

"What happens if the decision is split?" I asked carefully.

"You'll never see each other again. Those who stay are stuck forever. If you go, your whole timeline in the future is changed. If you all go together, it's like this never happened" Ethel said putting down her drink.

"That makes sense." Jennifer said nodding her head. _I guess. But can I live with the thought of possibly never seeing some of my friends ever again?_

"Well, I'm in favor of returning." I said looking to the others.

"Are you sure Ang? Don't you want to consider everything first?" Jennifer asked.

"What's to consider?" Rachel returned.

"Family."

"And friends Angelina. Including new ones." Jennifer said looking down, probably thinking about the greasers as she said that.

"That is true." Rachel said.

"Yeah. There is more to consider." I sighed.

"The tension itensifies." Emma interjected out of no where. We all laughed but fell into silence.

"So, what's it going to be?" Ethel asked, studying each of our faces. _Oh boy._


	39. Buck's

Rachel POV

Jennifer and I were washing dishes after dinner when someone loudly banged on our door. Jennifer dried her hands on a towel and opened the door and smiled as soon as she saw who was there.

"Put on your best dress and dancing shoes. We're going out." I could hear Sodapop say through the door. I leaned over so I could get a peek at Jennifer. She looked at him oddly, but went to her bedroom.

"And tell the rest of the girls to do the same." Steve called after her. _I didn't even know he was here._ I put away the last dish and went to Emma and my room to try to find something to wear. Emma and I were the first to be ready, both wearing jeans and button down shirts, and sat in the living room with Soda and Steve until the other girls were ready. Angelina appeared next.

"Jennifer is probably going to be a while." She said while rolling her eyes. She was wearing a dark blue dress a thick black belt and black ballet flats. She pulled her hair into a simple side ponytail with big bouncing curls.

After another ten minutes, Jennifer walked out of the room wearing a pink dress with white polka dots with a white ribbon around her waist and tulle coming out of the bottom. She was wearing white high heels, even though we all knew she would end up killing herself with those heels.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Angelina asked, while eying Jennifer's shoes.

"I'll be fine." Jennifer walked towards Sodapop, and he embraced her.

"I believe we're ready to go." Sodapop said, as he took Jennifer's hand. We left the house and began walking down the street.

"Hey, Sodapop! How did you get four lovely ladies surrounding you?" Two-Bit yelled as he passed us in his car. I could hear Emma sigh as he deaccelerated to match our pace and honked to get her attention.

We walked past the Curtis's house and I saw the curtains shift in the window. I heard Darry rev his truck and pull out. As he drove behind us Ponyboy ran out of the house to join us, coming in what seemed like two seconds.

"Hey." Ponyboy said to me breathlessly.

"Hey." I replied, smiling. We continued walking,

As we passed the vacant lot, Angelina left our small mob of people to look for Johnny. I heard some quiet talking and I looked over as Johnny emerged into the light. Angelina took his hand and they began jogging to catch up with us. Once back in the group they walked together next to Jennifer and Sodapop.

We approached the house, where the music blared and drunk people were scattered everywhere.

"You two don't go inside, you hear?" Darry said to Ponyboy and me.

"Yes sir." I replied, saluting him. Darry smiled and shook his head as everyone else went inside. Jennifer was smiling wide as Sodapop lead her in and Johnny squeezed Angelina's hand reassuringly. Two-Bit hopped out of his car and practically fell on Emma in the process. _He's probably had a few to drink all ready._ "So what should we do?" I ask as we stood alone in the parking lot.

"Well, it's just bright enough to read." Ponyboy said, looking at the full moon. We walked over to Darry's truck and I watched as he pulled a book out from under the burlap sacks in the truck bed. He leafed through the book, stopping at a well worn page. I read the title _Nothing Gold Can Stay_ I don't remember much about The Outsiders, but I do remember that poem. Jennifer memorized it and recites it almost daily.

"Nature's first green is gold," I read over his shoulder.

"Her hardest hue to hold." He read, startled. We continued reading, switching off at each line.

"Her early leaf's a flower;"

"But only so an hour."

"Then leaf subsides to leaf."

"So Eden sank to grief,"

"So dawn goes down to day."

"Nothing gold can stay." Ponyboy finished. "I've always liked that poem."

"Jennifer has it memorized." I replied, almost laughing. Ponyboy smiled and put his arm around me. He turned to the first page of the poetry book and we read silently together as the music from the party blared in the background.

* * *

Angelina POV

I walked into Buck's house with Johnny and was overwhelmed by the number of drunk people crammed into the house. I looked up at Johnny and he looked as uncomfortable as I felt. I looked around the mob of drunks and spotted Dally flirting with a girl. The straps on her dress had slipped to around her shoulders as she danced and he couldn't keep her eyes off her. She walked away, her hips swinging widely, and Steve came up to talk with Dally. Sodapop was by Steve with Jennifer in her usual place under his arm. Johnny pulled me closer so I wouldn't get trampled by two other greasers that nearly suffocated me with cologne. He walked up to the bar and sat down on a stool, motioning for me to do the same.

"Two cokes please." Johnny said, looking at me.

"Mixed with?" The man at the bar asked.

"Nothing. Just coke." I specified, trying to ignore the looks the other boys at the bar gave me. _So I don't drink, got a problem?_ The man walked away and came back quickly with the dark carbonated beverages. I took a sip from my glass, the bubbles fizzing in my mouth and looked at Johnny. He was looking at me too, and he tried to look like he was having fun. "Let's go outside." I yelled over the chaotic din. Johnny smiled gratefully and guided me out the back door onto the back porch. I scanned the area, my eyes beginning to adjust from the bad lighting inside to the pure moonlight. We were the only ones out there.

"Better?" I asked gently as we sat on the ground.

"Much." Johnny replied. I took another sip of my coke and shivered slightly. "You cold?"

"A little." I replied, rubbing my arms.

"Here." Johnny said as he shrugged off his jean jacket and handed it to me.

"Johnny, I can't take that." I started as I noticed he was only wearing a thin t-shirt underneath. He must have anticipated me giving it back to him because he placed his hands on top of mine. They felt like a soft fire compared to my now ice cold fingers.

"Really, just take it." I bit my lip and pressed my hands back to him. He sighed taking back his jacket and put his hand on mine. I looked out over the backyard, now spotting fireflies appear out of the night. I felt Johnny lift my arm and look over as he slipped my arm into the jacket sleeve. I let him put the jacket on me, absorbing the warmth into my skin. I traced the stitching I did on the elbow of his jacket and counted the fireflies as they flew past our faces. Johnny was watching them too, following their flight until they mixed in with the stars above us.

"Hey, look! It's our star." Johnny said excitedly, but hushed. My head dropped onto his shoulder as I looked up to where he was pointing and smiled. He pulled me closer as we looked at the beautiful night sky.

* * *

Emma POV

"No more beer for you." I said as I dragged Two-Bit away from the bar, leaving my own half empty beer bottle. How I was stuck being his babysitter I will never know. But one thing's for sure, he was even more annoying when drunk than when sober.

"Just- just one more Emmy-Bear." He slurred.

"Don't call me that." I hissed as I dragged him outside for some cool fresh air, hoping that it would put some sense back into his head. Not that there even was any there to begin with. As I guided him down the porch steps, he nearly fell on his face three times.

"Let's go sit in my car." Two-Bit offered, wrapping his arm around me.

"Better than me having to pick you off the pavement every five seconds." I grumbled under my breath. He opened the passenger door for me and waited until I got in before he slammed the door and stumbled over to the driver's side. I patted my pocket, making sure his keys were still there so he couldn't drive.

"So what now?" I asked.

"I don't know." Two-Bit hiccuped, and then let out a belch.

"Seriously? You are disgusting." I wrinkled my nose and inched away from the drunken man.

"Aww come on," he said looking over at me, "I can't be too bad to hang out with. You could have left me underneath the bar when you shoved me off the first time." He laughed and I suprised myself laughing along.

"Yeah, but you deserved that after acting like such an ass and slapping mine." Two-Bit laughed again, hiccuping every few seconds.

"You know, for a brunette, you're not half bad." He slurred.

"Thanks? I think?" Two-Bit pulled me closer and sloppily kissed the corner of my mouth.

"Emma... So nice." He murmured before passing out with his head in my lap. I've never been kissed before, but that was still not a bad kiss, even if it was a drunk one.

* * *

Jennifer POV

"Just a lemonade please." I told Buck, whom I found out usually was the bartender at his parties.

"Are you sure? A shot of vodka or gin really makes it good."

"Leave her alone Buck, she just wants a lemon-" Sodapop started.

"A shot of vodka won't hurt anything." I interrupted, leaving Sodapop flabbergasted.

"I didn't think you would be one to drink." Dally drawled from two stools down.

"I can have fun. Angelina is the only one who won't drink, and we don't let Rachel drink." I explained, giggling slightly. Buck returned with my drink.

"Free of cost for a pretty lady like you." Buck said. _Creeper much?_

"Thanks." I said dryly as I took a sip. Sodapop glared at Buck until he left us alone to refill someone else's drink.

"I really wish guys would stop that." Sodapop said, directed to no one.

"Stop what?"

"Flirting with my girl." Sodapop said as he kissed my temple, as if he was marking his territory. I rolled my eyes at Soda's protectiveness, but at the same time it was nice to know he cared.

"Come on, let's dance." I said to Sodapop as I pulled him away from his barstool and abandoned my drink. It wasn't that good anyway. Sodapop looked back at Steve and Dally and shrugged, allowing me to lead him to the dance floor. Just as we reached the floor, the music slowed down and I recognized one of my favorite Elvis songs come on _I Can't Help Falling in Love With You._ Soda pulled me close and wrapped one hand around my waist. He gently lifted my hand and held it like we were going to waltz. I rested my free hand on his shoulder as we began swaying in a small circle to the beat of the music.

"How's my dancing?" Sodapop asked me after we got into a rhythm.

"A lot better than your touchdown dance." I giggled as I leaned up to peck him on the lips.

"Yeah, that was a little..." He trailed off, looking into my eyes. His eyes were a little glossy and I felt his grip tighten around me

"What's wrong sweetie?"

"So, how long are you girls staying here for?" Sodapop asked me, his brown eyes full of worry and fear. I smiled and wiped away a tear that had fallen onto his cheek.

"Forever, Sodapop Curtis. We're staying forever. I'm staying forever." Soda pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my lips, dipping me down like I have seen before in movies. He brought me back up and spun me around, ignoring the hoots and hollers from everyone else. As he slowed spinning I felt completely lost in his eyes, knowing in my heart that Sodapop felt the same way for me and that nothing will ever come between us.

"I think this is our song." I whispered into Sodapop's ear.

"I think so too." _Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes some things are meant to be._


End file.
